Ambrosia
by LightAtHeart
Summary: It had been 15 years since the end of the Giant War. A new camper had recently made it to Camp Half-Blood, and Percy and Annabeth just can't seem to notice something odd about her. She hides a shocking secret, while they hide something they thought they've lost.
1. The Prophecy

A hidden child came of age,

Under shroud of a godly name;

Peace came with her, for she symbolizes said,

Won, by war and blood, of her unknown sire's fare;

A horrible threat shall come unto her stead,

And if she dies, so shall the world end.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sorry! This is just an update when I notices some slight mistakes. Hope you all like it anyways!**

"Is this necessary? "

"Yes, very necessary."

"But _this_ necessary?"

"Yes, _this_ necessary."

"I don't get it," Annabeth harrumphed. She rose from the couch, putting a hand on her back to support her rounding stomach, and walked, or _waddled, _to the kitchen island. She grabbed a bag of chips and started munching.

"Why does it have to be Hera? Why couldn't it be, oh I don't know, Artemis? Hestia? Or my mother maybe?" ranted Annabeth, all the while munching and leaving crumbs on the floor.

"You should probably stop talking while you're eating, honey," Percy replied, sweeping up the crumbs under the island, followed by a yelp of surprise as Annabeth whacked him on the head. "I can do what I want, I'm pregnant," Annabeth said indignantly. "And can we get back onto the subject? Why do we have to give our baby to a delusional and obviously biased goddess to be raised? Why can't we raise our kid ourselves? We are capable of it."

"It not about being capable or not," Percy replied, with a little resignation in his tone. "We are dangerous to be around a kid, Annabeth. Monsters, all the things we've done and all the enemies we've made, you know it's sure to attract revenge. And my fatal flaw is personal loyalty, what better way to take me down than to take down my family? That's why we need to hide our kid, Annabeth, from everyone."

A long moment went on without any sound from either.

"And, I only chose Hera because you said there would be less suspicions if she took the baby in to Olympus," Percy rationalized.

"Never thought I'd hear you say sensible things, seaweed brain," grumbled Annabeth, knowing inside that he was right. Well, technically, _she's_ right.

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something else, but couldn't seem to get it out. Percy, still busy cleaning, didn't see the suspicious action, turned around and said, "Look, I didn't mean to sound so gloomy and pessimistic. Of course, I want to raise our child. We, as demigods, understand most of what living in the moment stood for. By leaving our baby in the hands of others is the last thing anybody would expect us to do. I mean, we've kept the pregnancy hidden so far. But all I can think about is how I want to play with her and teach her and I can't wait for her to finally get here," Percy knelt in front of Annabeth and took both her hands delicately into his, excitement clearly in his eyes, "You've been doing so good Annabeth, and we're going to be parents soon, can you believe that?"

Annabeth stared at him open mouthed, slightly stunned by the sudden change in demeanor and the glistening of the sea green in his eyes. She shook herself out of the stunned stupor and looked out the clear glass paneled window across the kitchen in the living room, "Sometimes it's difficult to imagine if we would ever get here, but here we are. It's kinda amazing isn't it?" Annabeth's answering smile was radiant with the special glow that only came with the joy of being a mother.

They had learned that they were pregnant only three months ago, right after they returned from Hawaii on a celebratory graduation trip, which was hijacked by the Minotaur. That's another story for another time. Annabeth had felt weaker than she ever had; excluding the times she'd been stabbed with poisonous dagger or when she'd been forced to hold up the sky or any other times she'd been on life threatening situations. The Apollo cabin had been thrown in a loop when they examined Annabeth for any sickness, because they can't find any, only mild sickness and lightheadedness, before Chiron was called in.

"Ah, can everyone else give us a minute alone?" Chiron stayed by the infirmary bed as everyone else left the room, leaving Percy and Annabeth to stare worriedly at their teacher.

Chiron cleared his throat uncomfortably, before saying, "I would suggest you to make an appointment with a nearby clinic or a hospital -"

"Wait, hold up," Percy interrupted. "When have we ever gone to a clinic or a hospital for anything? Is it very serious?" Percy's agitated tone prompted Chiron response faster than ever to dispel any unnecessary stress. "No, nothing to that degree, just that I thought you kids might be happy to get a little surprise."

"Well, if there's any surprise, can it just come from you? Because that's less threatening than all the other 'surprises' we've faced," Annabeth piped up weakly from her fetal position on her bed.

"How do you put this lightly...?" Chiron hesitated, scratching his beard thoughtfully. He cleared his throat and said ceremoniously, "Well then, Congratulations to the both of you, Annabeth appears to be pregnant, not ill."

He was greeted with wide eyes and mouths hanging open.

"Well, I still suggest you to visit a hospital in the near future to check on the little one," Chiron said as he stood to his full form and turned to leave. "And I'll keep this quiet if I were you, don't want any monsters to be alert of a vulnerable situation, eh?"

Annabeth still remembered how shocked she was, but at the same time, a small burst of happiness grew inside her until it radiated out to the surface. She was going to be a mother! It wasn't always a thought she was fond of, being surrounded by kids with broken families and having to deal with that issue herself, added with the burden that comes with being a demigod. But as she grew up, she realized that she can't help but imagine a little person with Percy's green eyes and her blonde hair, or maybe a little girl who looked just like her or a little boy with raven hair playing happily by the seashore. It turned into something she yearned to have, a future with Percy and maybe a family that she'll be proud of.

But as she thought of the situation, she's still very young, at the age of twenty-one, to be a mother, and she realizes that she doesn't know anything about being a mother in the first place. Having an almost non-existent mother figure in her life certainly doesn't help when one's a goddess of war and wisdom while the other she hated with a passion back when she was a child. As fast as the joy came, panic threatened and she started doubting and questioning herself if she was fit to be a mother to someone, be responsible for a person's … everything!

Annabeth was slowly getting used to the idea as the months go by, now, at twenty weeks along, she's calmer and much more comfortable with the prospect of being a mother, with a very excited and supportive Percy by her side. He, on the other hand, seemed to have no struggle with the surprise pregnancy and it had been two months ago when Chiron's advice was brought up.

"You know, we should probably tell our parents, about the baby," Percy said nonchalantly as they walked hand in hand from the hospital after their first appointment with Dr. Stevens, a son of Apollo and trusted friend of theirs. Annabeth thought about it for a while. "Didn't Chiron say something about keeping it under wraps for some reason?"

"Oh yea, because we have lots of people trying to kill us and hunt us down. Good point, we should probably just keep it between us, Chiron and the doc for now," Percy nodded, agreeing with his thoughts.

"What about when the baby's here? How can we keep him or her safe?" Annabeth wondered out loud.

"We could always ask for baby sitters right? I mean ones that we're sure that are not monsters and will not turn into one. Or maybe, we can just not tell anyone that we have a kid, ever," said Percy.

"Right…" Annabeth said reluctantly. "We're not going to ignore that we have a kid, but what we can do is limit the people we tell, and I like the idea of a baby sitter, just that it's a bit far-fetched, because how can we make sure that this person can't be threatened by monsters? All our friends are ruled out by being demigods and virtually attacked every day, and I don't actually know if anybody from our world is safe to be around children."

"How about my mum? She could do it," Percy suggested. Annabeth shook her head, "It's too obvious, and our baby might attract a lot of monsters too, what with us being demigods and our parents being powerful gods."

And as they discussed and worried, the conclusion came to them about two days ago, when they thought about how it would be like to grow up around Olympus like all the gods did. And came the idea for their baby to grow up there, with all the deities protecting him or her, the chances of a monster even being in Olympus is absurd. It's the perfect idea, except of who would be the one to watch over and cover their child's identity. That had led to the current conversation between the famous couple.

"But we won't get to do much of the parenting and we'll barely see her." Annabeth complained. Their baby is not even here yet, and they're talking about giving her away to someone else, not that they would go visit her, just that they have to be extra careful until he or she is deemed capable of defending from attacks. "And…" she hesitated. Annabeth casted her eyes on to the floor. "And I have something to tell you," she breathed out the words, so silently they were said.

"What is it?" Percy's eyes searched those stormy grey ones as he patiently waits for a response. Used to these rare hormones induced emotional moments, Percy knows better than to tease Annabeth about being hormonal.

"Um, well," Annabeth fidgeted uncomfortably, "I overheard some dryads talking about a prophecy?" she trailed off uncertainly. After a bit of waiting, Percy urged Annabeth to continue, sensing the weight of the implications. "What prophecy?" Annabeth looked at him and sighed, knowing there's no way to stop him from worrying even more after learning of this supposed "prophecy". After all, they had bad experience with prophecies. "It was made when Rachel was alone on her cave, the dryads nearby heard bits of it, but nothing very solid, just something about another apocalypse that needs demigods fighting and-"

Percy's groan interrupted Annabeth. "Another war? When do we get a break? And don't Rachel's prophecies happen to people whom it concerns?"

Annabeth shrugged in response, "Well, yeah they do, but there's something else, about the world ending-" "-Oh boy" "-and a child being hidden."

Annabeth nodded at Percy's surprised expression, showing him the uncanny coincidence between that tidbit of information with the situation of their unborn child.

After a solid five minutes, as Annabeth will always exaggerate from then on, before Percy spoke, "You know, all that you just said pointed to _and_ away from the plan."

Annabeth could only nod at that statement with a "What else do you expect" expression and went back to her bag of nachos and leaving crumbs on the perfectly clean floor again.

While the two chat on and talk about what was to come, far away, an unknown force cackles and laughs.

"Oh, you can't hide forever, and when its time, I'll come for you."


	3. Chapter 2

"Happy Birthday!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you!" I yelled back from the pavement up to the fellow gods who had greeted me on the way from their windows.

If you hadn't guessed, it's my birthday today. It landed on the 6th of June, thirteen years ago. Oh, wait, you don't even know my name. This is embarrassing. Here I am ranting about my birthday and you don't even know who you should wish it to! Well, pleasure to meet you, my name i– "AMBROSIA ROSE!"

Uh oh, that's my guardian. She's loud and insensitive, but because she's the queen of heaven and all that, I can't say that to her face, or else she'd scald me.

"What are you doing in that ridiculous get up?" Hera scolded disapprovingly. "And what are you doing out here when you are supposed to be at your hall?" she shook her head so hard I thought it was going to fall off. Unfortunately, I didn't have the pleasure of witnessing such an iconic event, but I still laughed in my head at the unlikely but absolutely hilarious scenario.

"What's wrong with this 'get up'?" I pointed to my favorite Finding Nemo T-shirt and my army boots and pants. "It's my birthday today, in case you've forgotten, and I get to wear what I want. I think it's perfectly fine," I said indignantly, marching at a fast pace to keep up with the goddess, heading to the party that was being held at my personal hall.

And why do I have a personal hall? And speaking to Hera like _that_ without getting chuck down from Olympus?

For the rest of the world, I am Ambrosia Anna Rose, goddess of the daily running of Olympus – I know, laugh away, it's a stupid title, and a stupid name, but at least I have a purpose, not just a very random minor god; though when I think about it, it is pretty random. Between me and the goddess of marriage, I'm Sia Chase-Jackson, ordinary human being, with the exception of having the ability to see through the Mist, a cloud of magic that covers up all things magical from the humans.

I was born on Earth and raised on Mount Olympus. Unusual and peculiar, I know, but it was necessary, as Hera told me. She made an arrangement with the couple that were my parents before I was born to bring me up here and raise me under the disguise of a new deity. She said that they were dangerous people to be around, that having a baby with them is just not possible at the moment. She agreed to their deal, but claimed that they died tragically in a train wreck shortly after my birth. I don't believe it, but never made it known to Hera. I just had a feeling, that they were out there somewhere; that they wouldn't just hand me over to some immortal being and get themselves killed just like that. But I was wondering what kind of people they were, being able to reach Hera or even know of her in the first place. Weird.

Back to the business with Mount Olympus. I'm a prisoner here. I don't know a better description than that. Despite being a "goddess" and having people respect me with that title, I'm restricted to Mount Olympus – being in charge of its daily running, which didn't exist before I was brought here. I actually have to report on all the complaints about the muses being too loud or if Hermes needs a new storage area as if I was actually the goddess responsible for these nuisances. And I have to pretend to do it at "goddess" speed as well! It was all to squash any suspicions, Hera said. I'm just tired of being told what to do by Hera, but sadly, she's the only one who knows the truth around here.

We reached the grand bronze double doors leading to the hall which opened up to a party fit for gods raging inside. Despite it being only three in the afternoon, glasses filled with wine and jugs of overflowing with beer were passed around throughout the hall. Me, who just turned thirteen, can't consume any, but I sneaked some anyways. I find it funny that ancient communities of gods follows current rules and law of the modern world, it gives a good laugh from time to time.

"Hey, Rosie. You're getting older as the years go by, oh, I'm going to miss you so much when you leave us to frolic around on Earth!" exclaimed Apollo as I passed by, with Euterpe, the muse of music, draped aver his shoulders. I rolled my eyes at his remarks and continued on my path behind Hera.

Apollo had always been a thorn in my side that I couldn't get rid of. He would always talk about the day I was finally allowed to leave this god forsaken place, and meet tons of men and have demigods of my own. I would always laugh and brush of his comments, knowing him as a harmless flirt and teaser. Later, I would return to my chamber and daydream about going to school, having friends and sleepovers. You know, the usual stuff that normal kids do.

Despite my seemingly easy going relationship with Apollo, the twelve main Olympians are not as friendly as most minor gods, not that they are very friendly as well. They don't associate themselves with each other often, too busy with crisis in their own domain; their immense power detaching themselves from time and emotions. Not a very happy family.

I keep my distance from them, learning when I turned six that I'm different, but had to pretend not to know. That was a difficult time for me. I was convinced that I'm just like the rest of them, immortal and undying. It certainly messed with my mind for a bit. Note to parents and_ guardians_: don't tell your children that they are, in anyway, a deity.

On this day, I would typically make a customary speech about thanking everyone and have small talk with the party goers. Today derived from the norm, it seems, as Hera was not leading me to the closet to have a change of clothes, where she would normally force me into a bed sheet they call toga – because we should always remember where we come from, our homeland, Hera would always say. But ironically, I've never seen her wear one. We arrived at the hallways that led to my bedroom and the closet when she took a left into the gardens. I gave her a confused look, but made no move to question her. She led me to the fountains and sat down on one of the stone benches.

"My dear," she said as she tucked a strand of my hair behind my ears affectionately, as if I was her own daughter. But I know better than that. One thing I've learnt from my time up here is that gods are fickle, and bipolar. One day, they'll cuddle you to death and the next, they'll do it literally.

"It seems just yesterday when I introduced you to Olympus," she sighed with fake nostalgia. I shivered.

"Can you just get to the point? I kind of have to make a speech and entertain people back there," I stated, a tab bit annoyed by her blatant show of affection that were obviously fake.

Her eyes flashed intimidatingly and a hint of her godly form shone around her figure. "Child, have respect or have you forgotten your place?" her voiced boomed. I casted my eyes downwards and let my posture take a more demure form to placate her.

"Now, where were we?" said Hera, her tone forcefully calm and collected. "Ah, yes, now, before you so rudely interrupted me, I was about to give you your birthday gift."

That got my attention; gifts from deities are a rare occurrence. They are not your typical presents like those I read in books. And even when it's your birthday, gifts are not a constant or must.

I sat up straighter and listened more attentively. Hera, sensing my newly attained attention for her, said, " Since you have been up here for the majority of your younger years, I deem you now responsible and mature enough to interact with mortals and have decided to send you to Camp Half-Blood for the summer."

I gaped at her for a second before I arrange my facial expression back to one acceptable by goddesses lest I anger her again, because her gift seems too good to be true.

"Thank you," I said breathlessly. A thousand emotions churned beneath; excitement, nervousness, worry, but one thing stood out amongst all that mess, a question. "When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow."

* * *

"_Hey, G-man!" Percy yelled from the top of Half-Blood hill, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder._

"_Percy!" Grover trotted up to meet Percy as he jogged down towards the Big House. _

"_How is it going?" Grover asked as he clapped a hand on Percy's shoulder in brotherly affection. _

"_Pretty good," Percy replied, shrugging._

"_Hey I've been meaning to ask," Grover started as they turned into the ping pong room where all the cabin leaders had gathered for the summer meeting. "Where has Annabeth been?"_

_Percy stopped short in front of all the leaders at Grover's question, then attempted to brush it off nonchalantly. "It's nothing; some flu caught her and wouldn't leave. I'm sure she'll be fine in no time!"_

_They all gawked at him, not having heard such a blatant lie come from Percy himself. From their looks alone, it could be said that they did not believe him one bit, for they had not seen Annabeth in nearly six months' time. The excuse had always been that she was still busy with the design and building of Olympus and making plans for expanding Camp Half-Blood. This was not the first time Annabeth had been "ill" as well._

_The intense silence was broken by Clarisse, ever straight to the point. "Prissy, you better tell us what is going on or I'll fry your fishy butt!" _

"_Clarisse!" Grover shouted in warning for her to stop her rant and to lower her electric spear number 5. Grover calmed down and said to Percy, "Tell her to get well soon." Grover, resigned and a little hurt that his friends were hiding things from him, understood in some way that if it had not been absolutely necessary, he would be let in to whatever secret they have to keep. _

_Percy ran a hand through the messy mop of his hair before stopping Grover who was moving to take a seat at the table for the meeting to start, and said in a low voice filled with sincerity and desperation, "Look, I would tell you everything if I can, you know I will, but I can't, and I'm sorry for that. But I can assure you that Annabeth is ok, no need to add that to the things you need to worry about."_

_Percy and Annabeth had been growing increasingly worried when a monster had attacked Annabeth while she was home lounging in the backyard. Annabeth, being already thirty-two weeks along, can't exactly defend herself. It was luck that had saved them this time. Percy had just arrived home, when he heard the ruckus and noise, and he came just in time too. A little later, he would've lost both his girlfriend and his unborn baby. This had caused them to be on high alert, monsters attacking even when their kid is not even born yet! Annabeth had felt so useless being unable to defend herself, a position she had rarely ever been subjected to and definitely not for such a long period of time. _

_Grover could see that Percy beyond worried himself and felt bad that he couldn't do anything to help. _

"_I understand."_

* * *

I ran back to my room, passing by the loud music from hall, the party and the speech and all the deities were the last thing on my mind.

I threw open my bedroom door and started packing. Yes, I was that happy to finally _leave_ this heaven of a prison. I know, I know. How many people get to stay in heaven? I have to say, the architecture is amazing. But surrounded by nuts going on and on about this and that, you just can't stand to be around them after _thirteen_ years of their blabbering.

In the midst of my tornado like 'packing', which actually just consist of me throwing everything I own into a duffel bag that I just realized was magical as it expands to fit all that stuff, I realized that Camp Half-Blood is a summer training camp for demigods – amazing how much you can pick up when nobody thought you were listening, and I am not a demigod. And then I thought about how Hera is going to explain to all the other gods for me to leave my post and go 'frolic' around with their children. Do I have to pretend to be a demigod when I'm there? If so, who will be my fake godly parent? Certainly not Hera. Or will she now reveal that I'm actually just human? But if so, why send me to a camp for half-bloods?

All these questions kept rising from the depths of my mind, but I shook them away. This is my one chance to go see the real world, and whatever Hera asks me to do for the sake of keeping my identity a secret, I'll do it.


	4. Chapter 3

I can't sleep. I've never been faced with this dilemma before. Now I understood the trauma of having insomnia. I've tried everything; count sheep, count the stars, spot the constellation, read Greek history that would usually make me snore in minutes. Nothing worked.

The quietness was driving me up the walls. It just made the thoughts going round my head louder against the eerie silence of the night. I've always been a heavy sleeper; nothing (with the notable exception of the daybreak conch horn) can wake me once I go under and into the realm of Night and Hypnos.

In less than six hours, I'll be out against the other side of a gate that had always remained closed to me. In the darkness of the night, where Chaos dominates, it's easy for doubt to weasel its way into my mind. What if they don't like me? What if I can't fit in? What do thirteen year old half-bloods do for recreational fun anyways? Can they even _have_ recreational fun?

I growled in frustration, turning around and shoving my pillow on my head in a vain attempt to get my brain to just stop thinking. I'll need all the energy I can get to pick up with the ADHD kids tomorrow. Now I'll be the lousiest pretend demigod they'll ever see in Greek history. Maybe they'll be convinced that I'm a daughter of Hypnos when they see my eye bags and witness my yawns. What a nice impression you'll make, Sia.

I've packed everything that a person could possibly need in any situations. I got a wedding dress – don't ask me where I got it from –, a celestial bronze throwing knife, a batter mixer, and some seeds. These, along with many, many other things don't weigh down on my bag like it should if it was anywhere else other than Olympus. Magic items like these were abundant here; nobody would ever notice one going missing. I, although being mortal, had the 'blessing' of being raised in a magic filled world so the existence of it doesn't create any alarming or shocking revelation, which I would be subjected to if I was raised in a normal family. Fairytales serve as nice, comedic, bedtime stories; which I far prefer from incest and wars in Greek mythology as a kid.

Since I've given up on any sleep tonight, I got out of bed and crept out of my bedroom in my night gown and into the courtyard. See, even though I'm experiencing night and sleep, outside my designated area on Olympus, it's like the streets of New York City – it never sleeps. Everybody else was up partying or discussing war strategies, but I'm here wasting my time away _sleeping_. I know that physically, I need it, it's essential to run my body. But Hera made the situation worse by asking Hecate to separate my hall off of the main structure so that I'd be able to sleep, because all that noise and ruckus would've made it impossible to. Alright, I'll admit she was being nice and considerate, but damn, I had thought I was like them once upon a time, no need to rub the salt into the wound so roughly, would you?

The courtyard had always been my preferred spot in my 'domain' – heh, at least I have one. There was a fountain there that brings up salt water from the sea beneath – courtesy of Poseidon – which I was especially drawn to. It wasn't just the fountain alone that caught my attention; there was an inscription in Greek –

Πρέπει να φοβάται, γι 'αυτό είναι αυτό που σε κρατά πραγματική

– carved into the sea green marble at the base of the water spring.

It says, "Be fearful, for that is what keeps you real."

I thought, hey, that's unusual. Because Greek heroes were always fearless and near invincible in the myths, but this is different, and true. I've pondered about the meaning behind this quote ever since I've perfected my Greek and came across this water spring. When I'm not feeling so good, I'd come and just sit and read that inscription, over and over. It became my motto, because I've learnt very early on that not everything is as it seems and although the truth may hurt, but it's better than lies. It's a bit hypocritical for me to say that, what with hiding my identity and having a free stay at the Palace of gods. But staying true to myself and who I am had then become my first priority and goal in life; however much that I get to live that's mine.

And as I look into these comforting and encouraging words carved with care into the limestone marble, I drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

"_I'll bet fifty drachmas that it's a boy," Annabeth nodded to herself, confident in her predictions._

_Percy laughed lightly, shaking his head at Annabeth's firm insistent that their shopping colors should be blue. He __**knows **__that their baby is a girl. No point in arguing with the hormonal girlfriend though. _

"_We'll see," Percy said in response._

_They were soon called into the ultrasound room, where Annabeth changed into a green hospital gown and laid down on the stiff hospital bed while Percy chatted up with the Dr. Stevens about how the pregnancy had been going._

"_Here we go," the son of Apollo said as he moved the wand over the cold jelly spreaded across Annabeth's growing tummy. A grainy black and white image of roughly resembling the anatomy of a baby appeared on the screen as a steady, loud thumping of a beating heart sounded from the speakers connected to the delicate medical instrument._

_Annabeth's eyes watered at the sight of their child, Percy's face lit up with pride and joy. _

"_The baby seems to be developing fine, all ten little fingers and toes," Dr. Stevens said as he maneuvered the wand to show the joyous parents their baby. "Would you like to know the baby's gender?"_

_Annabeth's eyes gleamed at the prospect of learning their unborn child's gender. "Will we be able to know already?"_

"_Sure you do, and it seems like your kid wants you to know too," Dr. Stevens commented as the image of the sex of their baby came onto the screen._

"_Congratulations, you're having a baby girl!"_

* * *

I tied my raven hair up into a neat pony tail and fixed my simple T-shirt and tattered jeans. Intense, stormy grey eyes stared back at me through the ornate mirror hanging above the basin in my bathroom. I had always loved the fact that they will always look scary even when I'm not trying to intimidate people, it helps to keep away nosy busybodies when I wanted to be alone.

I had woken to the conch horn, and sprang from my position on the ground in the courtyard, cracking a few kinks in my spine and neck from having fallen asleep in an awkward position on the hard ground. I rushed back in to my room and did my morning routine before standing in front of my closet, trying to choose what normal teens would wear. Not being able to base it off anything other than movies, I tried the most invisible approach, thus the simple outfit that says absolutely nothing about me, which is not my norm, I assure you.

Now, after another nervous fix of the unmanageable curly nest that is my hair, I deemed myself presentable and left for the dining hall. While I was walking on the cobblestoned pavement on my way over, Hestia, one of the few goddesses that I have somewhat of a relationship with, walked up to me and congratulated me with the 'undercover project'.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm feeling pretty fine," I replied, shrugging. How are you supposed to feel in a situation like this?

"You know, I met a hero there once, and I think he might be able to help you get used to the world down there," Hestia suggested, ever so kind.

"I doubt that anybody might understand me enough to help me, but I'll take note of it. What's his name?" I enquired; after all, knowledge is the next best weapon.

"Ask for Nico, he was one of the few who had notice me, and all the others who were usually ignored and forgotten. He resurrects the lost memories." Hestia trailed off, lost in thought.

This was what makes it hard for me to relate to the inhabitants of Olympus. They are from a different time and era, and they spoke in such a way that makes me feel like I'm reading Shakespeare – beautiful, but incomprehensible. I nodded as if I understood anyways, trying not to insult the only friendly being around here, then made my leave, before the grumble of my hungry tummy makes another embarrassing appearance.

After a filling breakfast, I met with Hera at the gates, the magical duffel bag slung over my shoulders.

"A little briefing before you leave; you will be staying in the second generation area of the compound, state that your parents asked you to go to Camp Half-Blood when you turn thirteen, and that both passed when you were one, leaving you with a distant aunt. Give them no indication that you have prior knowledge to the Greek myths and try to avoid activities relating to aquatics or anything educational. You don't need the teaching – tell them that your parents were Greek, to cover for your expertise in that language – and Fotuna told me that you'd encounter bad luck when in close proximity with water."

I tried to commit this information into my memory, which was not that hard since I've been doing that practically all my life – gods have perfect recalling skills after all, and I have to _pretend_ I have one. But I did stop at the mention of no water and most importantly, no learning. Is she trying to ground me to boredom even when I'm _not_ on Mount Olympus?

"Wait, if I can't go to classes or do water sports, won't it attract some attention? And won't I be bored out of my mind?"

Hera laughed lightly, making me feel like I just pooped in front of her; you never want a goddess laughing at your face I tell you. "Silly child, they have so many problems on their hands, they wouldn't even notice you! And you won't be bored, you might even be asking for some rest once you get there!"

Way to put me down there, Hera. I'm not that invisible am I? I waited until she calmed down, and said, "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Ah yes, "Hera stopped her giggling and cleared her throat. "You shall go by the name of Ambrosia Rose. Do not, under any circumstances, reveal your real name, or they'll be serious consequences to be faced," she warned.

I gulped, "Okay."

"You may now step through the gates, and may luck and courage be with you, as well as strength," Hera said neutrally, as if sending off any other deity on their virgin voyage into the mortal world. Then she added, "For I sense that you will be in need of these qualities dearly. Hold on to it, and never forget what your time on Olympus had taught you," a rare sense of urgency in her voice.

I stared at her. Ancient eyes that had seen so much expressing, for the first time, a hint of fear.

"I will."

* * *

"_We have a favor to ask from you."_

"_And why should I even listen to your troubles, let alone help you overcome them?"_

"_The gods owe me more than that, as you should know," Percy said calmly_

_Hera glared intimidatingly at the form of the hero. Such determination and power, used so unsparingly and unwisely. It proved to be ironic when his partner in crime was the daughter of wisdom herself. _

"_I will listen only just this once."_

_Percy and a heavily pregnant Annabeth, who had kicked her way all through the journey to Mount Olympus, not wanting to meet her nemesis while she was vulnerable, looked at each other apprehensively before Percy turned to face the goddess and lay out his plans._

* * *

**A/N: Hey peeps! Just wanted to say thanks and that I do not, in any way, understand Greek, therefore that line of Greek was google translated. I'm sorry if there was any mistake! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	5. Chapter 4

The gate clanged shut behind me. I turned my head back to see Olympus, standing tall and imposing with all its glory and triumph. Whether I had wished for it or not, it had been my home ever since I could remember. Now, leaving it seemed so strange, because it had never been an option before.

I took a deep breath and turned to face the smooth surfaces of the floating path before me. I walked forward. I reached the other end. I was met with a pair of commercial looking, but nevertheless high class elevator doors. It dinged open and I entered. Facing Olympus, I pressed on the ground button and let the sliding doors close the view of my sanctuary from me.

The elevator ride took some time, being on the 600th floor and all, but the surprisingly good elevator music filled the journey down to Earth. However, it wasn't a smooth ride. Already my simple 'travelling' was being interrupted.

On the 67th floor, a man in an expensive looking suit with a pair of sophisticated reading glasses perched on a high nose stepped into the elevator, filling it with awkward atmosphere. Me – teenager in casual, him – business man in suit. I'll say it again, awkward. And it doesn't stop there. Oh no. On the 58th floor, a janitor, dressed in the compulsory blue paper-like uniform, entered into the elevator with his trolley of cleaning supplies, taking up nearly half the space in the already spacious metal box. The pleasant elevator music plays on. Again the doors dinged open at the 42nd, 35th, 29th, 16th, 10th and all the floors after that, leaving the elevator packed like sardines. Sadly, when the doors finally opened to the ground floor, me, being squished to the very end corner of the carriage, had to wait for everyone to exit before I could stumble out, gasping on some much needed clean air. (Man, that fart has got to be the worst I've experienced)

I wiped away the sweat from my face, adjusted my ruffled clothing and re-sling my duffel bag before walking towards the automated sliding door as calmly as a person whom has never placed foot on Earth could. A white van with strawberries printed on the sides was parked near the entrance with a man leaning casually by the driver's side. I could immediately tell that was my ride, because who else would have as cool a driver as the hundred eyed man? I pretended to be shocked at the sight – I'm not supposed to know anything after all – and approached the man with perfectly expressed caution.

"Erm, is this the ride to Camp Half-Blood?" I asked hesitantly, looking around and avoiding eye contact (not that I could), trying to project my fake unease.

I got no response; the eyes are starting to freak me out a little.

"I was told to come here by my aunt, but if it's not the place, I'll just…go," I pointed to the other side and waited again. This time, I noticed his indication. All his eyes went to the side, indicating me to get on the van. A shiver ran up my spine and I quickly got onto the van. That was a creepy sight that I never wanted to see again.

The drive over to Camp Half-Blood was peaceful, oddly so, as I expected more than just people rushing by on the streets, talking madly into their phones and drivers filling up the roads, honking impatiently. We reached the impressive Greek columns that marked the entrance of the camp. A tall pine stood rigidly next to the columns, with the Golden Fleece draped on one of its branches and a purple coil of scale snorting out puffs of smoke. I had known that the heroes came into possession of the treasured fleece about 20 years or so ago, and that the dragon was soon employed later to protect it, quite like the garden of the Garden of Hesperides, if you asked me. The hundred-eyed man drove the car into the protected compound, the magical border flashing ever so slightly as we passed under those columns.

A valley opened up in front of me as we drove towards the huge mansion towards the west of the landscape. We passed a great volleyball game in playing, a building heavily influenced by ancient Greek architecture with the label – "Arts and Craft" – in Greek and did I just see some lava on a rock climbing structure? We also passed by a clear and inviting lake with a canoe competition going on and further down, a circle of Greek looking cabins. One had skulls and burning torches while another had a real rainbow arched above it.

"I like this place," I said to myself, a grin forming on my face at the thought of spending more than two months here, Olympus' grandeur all but forgotten.

We pulled up in the garage at the white mansion and got out of the parked van, and were greeted by a man with an impressive greying beard, approaching us in a well-oiled wheelchair.

"You must be Ambrosia?"

"Yes, sir," I answered diligently, an automatic response incited by the overwhelming need to respect this disabled man.

He waved at my response. "None of this 'sir' thing, you may call me Chiron, as all campers do here. I assumed that your aunt has explained to you why you were sent here?" he asked, his eyes squinting inquisitively.

"Yes, si-Chiron, that she was busy and this is a good place to spend my summer rather than just laze around like I tend to," I said, which wasn't all lies but more half-truths; she _did_ say that I laze around a whole lot.

"Ah," he said, scrunching his eyebrows in thought.

"Is there something wrong si-Chiron?" I asked, concerned and face palming myself in my mind for having almost called him sir again when he asked not to. You just can't obey orders, can't you, Sia.

He dismissed my comment and instead wheeled his chair around in search of the, I'm assuming, look out boy of the camp, but he's hardly a boy, being a few hundred years old give or take. "Argus, please get Tina from the combat class and meet us in the briefing room, thank you. And, Ambrosia?" he turned his head around and waved for me to follow him.

Argus. Now I remember. He was Hera's creation. I wonder what he thought of her decision to give him a hundred eyes and make him a freak. He doesn't seem to mind though. He had left towards the left of the mansion towards the Greek looking arena where I assumed combat classes were held, while I followed behind Chiron onto the pristine porch and into the equally spotless interior. He led me down the hall and into a dark conference room with the projector on and the screen pulled down, ready to start. Rows of plastic chairs filled the room and several were already occupied by kids like me, except they were in a rougher state, with torn shirts and dirtied faces, some with fresh scars and bruises.

I looked down at my neat attire self-consciously, debating on whether to make a tear on my sleeve to fit in, before the door to the room burst opened and in came a tall, brutish looking girl about a year older than me, along with two other fellow campers, all dressed in flaming orange T-shirt with Camp Half-Blood printed in big bold letters across the back and front, a Pegasus taking flight beneath those words. They strode to the front of the room and started setting up the abused laptop they have brought with them. I sat down at the nearest seat from where I was standing, which was away from where all the other injured kids were seated, as quietly as possible, afraid to attract any attention. My efforts paid off when no one turned as I took my place in the conference.

"Right, half-bloods!" the brutish girl called out. "This is the orientation clip compulsory for all new comers. If you don't pay attention, you'll die either by my hands or the pincers of a monster, so I suggest you keep your eyes opened if you want to keep breathing," she threatened as one of the other campers that came in with her clicked play and the video started playing.

It started with all monsters most commonly seen by demigods outside of the protection of the camp borders: the Minotaur, Hydra, Hellhounds; the typical monsters that actively seek out their meals. Then came the faces of the gods and goddesses of Olympus, stating their domain and titles, starting with the twelve main Olympians. I had to muffle my laugh at certain parts of the introduction to the deities that were obviously influenced by the children of rivaling godly parents. Under Poseidon's facts, "Coolest dad ever!" and "He defiled my mom's temple!" were written while under Dionysus' wrote "Can't get a name right that man" and "Beware of grapevines – death guaranteed".

After that came the big revelation, that one of their parents or grandparents was – still is – an immortal, and that they were sent here to train so that they would be able to survive when they live outside of the borders. One of the kids gasped, while most just stared like they couldn't believe it. But they can't deny that this answers to all the questions they've ever had about their lives. This was followed by a short history of the two Great Prophecies that had happened during the past two decades, resulting in a lot of changes being made, our presence here at camp at the age of thirteen for once, and we were let out of the stuffy conference room after being told that we'll be claimed by our godly relatives sooner or later during our stay.

I left the room earliest, being the closest to the door, pondering on how Hera's going to explain to people here that I _don't_ have a godly parent or anything like that. As the rest were filing out of the room and back down the hallway, I passed by an office door and whispers of a tense conversation caught my attention and stopped me in my tracks.

"It's been two weeks since the start of summer, she should be here by now," a worried male voice said.

"Be patient, I'm sure Hera would hold her side of the deal," Chiron's voice sounded, trying to comfort the obviously beyond anxious voice.

"Hera? The deal was out the minute she took her away from us! We should have never trusted her!" an angry female pounded out harshly, so emotional was her voice she seemed to be close to crying.

I paused at that fraction of the conversation. Hera? What has she got to do with this 'her'? I listened on, more carefully than before; trying to make out what was being said.

"Hey, hey, I'm sure she has her reasons. She put me to sleep for eight months before, and it turned out all right didn't it?" the male voice reasoned.

"Are you seriously talking good about Hera right now? This isn't eight months, Percy! Thirteen years away from S –"

I was suddenly pushed up against the wall next to the door that I'd been unabashedly eavesdropping on. One of the demigods had been fixing her destroyed hair desperately and therefore had not notice me standing in the middle of the hallway. She bumped into me, shoving me to the wall, making a soft but audible thumping noise. The voices inside the room ceased.

"Oh my god! Why were you standing here, gosh," she shot me a glare and ran off down the hallway.

I sighed and righted myself, before following the others down the hall and out of what I now knew called the Big House. It was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

_Annabeth was sleeping soundly on the crinkly and uncomfortable hospital bed while Percy was standing by the covered window, crooning to their newly born daughter. Annabeth's water had broken in the early morning of the 6__th__ of June and it was after five grueling hours that had Percy convinced that his arm was broken before their child was delivered into the world._

_With mated black curls and stunning grey eyes, their daughter was cleaned and weighed, before the parents came into the decision to name her after the Egyptian deity of perception and knowing – Sia. With their latest encounter of prophecies with the Egyptians, it's only natural that they were quite affected by its mythology as well. _

_The family of three did not have a great celebration to welcome their child. They congratulated in each other in the quiet of the hospital, Annabeth giving a tired smile and falling asleep periodically before succumbing to the dream world. Sia was wrapped tightly in a yellow bundle and was now sucking on her thumb, deep in sleep. Percy now sat on the armchair by Annabeth's sleeping form and nodded off to sleep as well._

_Unbeknownst to this peaceful, sleeping family, an evil lurked in the shadows of the room, reaching and coiling around the newborn babe. It thickened into a ghostly shape, ready to snatch the vulnerable baby from her father's grasp, when a swish of wind came into the totally confined room and blew away the grappling hands of the shadow. The mystical wind wrapped around the baby and gently lifts it from the father's calloused hands, taking her away and disappearing into thin air, leaving only a rain of sparks as evidence to the devastated parents when the morning came to reveal to them the heartbreaking situation. Their heart has been stolen._


	6. Chapter 5

Sparks were flying over everybody's heads. Everybody, that is, except me. It was like an unexpected show of random fireworks, one even happened right after we stepped out of the porch of the Big House. A flaming hammer. Hephaestus. It caused quite the reaction out of the girl whose head she thought was burning. Quirky, those kids of Hephaestus are. However, I really pitied the boy with the blond hair. Having a rainbow arched above you, no matter how pretty, is not the most masculine thing to happen, especially to a guy at thirteen trying to establish his manliness.

After leaving the Big House, the thee of us left out of the original eleven were led to the larger than usual cabin 11 – Hermes, god of messengers, travelers, and thieves, while the others were led to their respective cabins . Being the guardian of travelers, the cabin makes way for all the unclaimed; it is actually on one of the reasons it was bigger than the other cabins. But ever since the deal between the hero and the gods were worked out, it has diminished in numbers and increased in space immensely. Tina led us to the low grey building; facing the silver plated '11' that hung slightly crooked on its smooth wooden door, she pounded on it and yelled: "Open up, the newbies are here!"

Silence. Other than the occasional screams and yells of other campers nearby, nothing sounded. It was as if the whole of cabin 11 was unoccupied. Tina rolled her eyes in annoyance and raised her meaty hands up to knock on the expensive wood – probably stolen –again. But before her hands touched the door, a bucket of mud fell from the roof and onto our temporary leader. A chorus of hysterical laugh rang from the cabin as faces with elfish features popped from their hiding spot around the cabin.

"Stolls!" our mud covered leader yelled out in aggravation, her eyes a burning red. "Which one of you is onto this!" she screamed out.

"Hey, hey! Calm down little Clarisse, I didn't know you did newbie duties!" A man in his twenties walked out from behind his younger siblings and stood forward to further taunt Tina, causing her fist to shake in anger.

"You'll get it, Stoll, just you wait," Tina said menacingly before storming off, probably to the toilets to wash of the mud that was drying and cracking under the hot sun.

Vigorous clapping sounded as Tina's form becomes smaller and smaller from our viewpoint. The man who had clearly orchestrated this whole prank, Stoll, gathered the three of us and led us into the low building.

"How did you like our welcome party for you?" Stoll's devilish smile broke through his intimidating appearance.

The other two newcomers seemed to be in awe of the man's daring act against the obviously dangerous camper. I, on the other hand, felt like I should go and comfort that girl but would not be able to resist help laughing while she was turned away. "Aren't you a bit old to be pranking people around here?" I commented, noting his slight stubble.

He laughed heartily and said, "Oh, you're never too old when you're a child of Hermes."

We were soon assigned to a 'buddy' for the day and my 'buddy' was none other than Stoll, whose first name I learnt was called Connor. I followed Connor to the end of the cabin where my assigned space was situated. "Here we are, there's your spot," the brunette with pointed features indicated to the lower bunk of the double bunk bed. I inspected the small space, so unlike the environment that I've been wrapped around in up on Olympus, and suspicious of any funny things that might hide in its creases – after that brilliant show of mischievousness, I'm not taking any chances.

As I was wondering how on _Earth_ am I going to fit all the stuff that I've brought into this tiny space, Connor spoke again. "You can start unpacking and go get changed. Our cabin has archery next, so you'll have to go in about ten minutes time," Connor showed me the Camp Half-Blood T-shirt he kindly stole for me and suggested for me to lock my belongings before leaving it unattended, giving a mischievous smirk that obviously spelled out he will not be responsible for his siblings' stealing tendencies.

"Will you be going to archery as well?" I asked, curious about it when he said 'you'll'.

"Nope," he answered chirpily, "I have grown up business to do, so if you have any questions, just ask Sheryl here, and Dan, a son of Apollo, will be waiting for you outside of the cabin to continue your tour," he pointed to a girl about eighteen, with all the trade mark features of the children of Hermes and another blond haired guy who was currently standing outside of the Hermes cabin, talking to a girl with long, flowing brown hair. "And before I leave," he turned his head, "what's your name?" Connor asked, his eyes examining my face for any familiar features, probably trying to guess who my godly relation is. I have a sneaking suspicion that they have a huge betting game going on.

"It's Ambrosia Rose, but you can just call me Rose," I lied smoothly, so used to it that it can't come out even smoother than how it did just now.

Connor stared hard at my face, a hint of recognition flashed before his eyes, before fading back into the clear blue of his irises. He didn't seem to have come to any conclusions.

"Rose," he said experimentally, then nodded and left with a casual wave over his head, leaving me to my own corner in the simple grey Hermes cabin.

* * *

Archery was difficult. It took me too long to even pull back the string than to notch the arrow and release it towards the target, which was not the trunk of a nearby tree. I think that dryad whose tree I splintered will forever remember my face.

I found out that Chiron, the bearded disabled man, turned out to be a centaur. _The _centaur, apparently – Hera would be appalled by my disappointing application of Ancient Greek knowledge. It happened when he sprung out from his disguise to get ready for the class, and I had been able to keep part of my dignity by not gasping or staring in shock like some of the other newbies.

I had to avoid canoeing and Greek classes by coming up with wanting to look around as an excuse. Dan was more than accommodating to show me around, maybe a bit too much. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh. On the bright side, we got to fly with some pegasi in the evening before being dismissed for shower. I had the greatest fun during that activity, spending my time with the pegasi in the stables up in Olympus whenever I was free paid off and I was able to communicate with my Pegasus smoothly.

Dinner started all right, with the delicious food – barbecue – and the special drink the gods made for me up on Olympus – I couldn't have nectar as food, of course, and you could get whatever you want in that goblet. That is probably the coolest thing Dionysus gave the camp privileged of. Said god made an introduction to our presence, with an added pause on my name, giving me that cursory glance of his, before proceeding to mention other notes as sleazy as possible. Dionysus may seem to be uncaring as the director here to the campers, but I know that he has a lot more going under the surface. I nodded my appreciation at his silent acknowledgement and continued with my dinner, burning the best pieces of meat for Hestia and, of course, Hera.

Halfway through the peaceful but albeit a little nosier than usual dinner at the mess hall, a disheveled camper decked out in full armor came running up to the long table up front where all the senior campers and important people sat. She whispered to Chiron, and he in turned stood and left the mess hall where the dining pavilion sits and, you guessed it, where dinners were held.

See, back in Mount Olympus, I like to tail random deities and listen into their conversation. I'm sure they knew that they were being eavesdropped on, but that's the thing, they like to spread rumors and start conspiracies, they don't care if their conversation is being heard by an outsider, they probably even know that it was me. Now, though, I'm debating on whether to indulge myself and go learn something new, or abide to common morals and sit quietly here, wasting my precious undercover time.

The answer was obvious. Follow them with my non-existent ninja skills and don't get caught. It seemed easy enough at the time.

Chiron had trotted up to the edge of the forest, near the beach of Long Island Sound by the time I managed to sneak out from the mess hall and away from my overbearing 'buddy' Dan. Three figures stood by the beach in the darkened night and they seemed to be arguing; loud yells and screams were heard from my hiding spot behind a conveniently placed bush.

"Why are you here? What else do you want?" A streak of curly blonde hair reflected in the moonlight. The sound of delicate fabric moving against the coarse sand of the beach was heard.

"I came here to inform you that I have completed my part of the deal, she has been sent here and I assumed that she is in good condition," a familiar voice said. My body tensed at that melodious sound. Hera.

"This is our daughter you're talking about, not a _thing_," hissed a masculine voice before Chiron interrupted the fight.

"Calm down Percy," he said in a commanding voice, before bowing to Hera. "What might we be blessed with your presence today, Hera," he asked politely, while I scoffed at his overly decorated speech.

"I was here as we agreed before, to inform them of the last exchange of their daughter, and now that that has been accomplished, I will take my leave," Hera said as she glowed into her godly form. With the rest of us shielding ourselves from being burnt to crisps, she folded into air and was whisked away back to heaven.

I sighed. It was typical of Hera to meddle in everything; she is the family woman after all. But her inclusion in this apparent 'exchange' had been echoed too many times to be inconspicuous, at least to me. Although I've been in quite the denial for a long time, I'm not dumb. With Hera being the only person to know of my past, her creation – made into existence in the first place to guard – taking me from Olympus to camp, the conversation in Chiron's office and the godly row, pun intended, which just happened? What were the odds?

A growl broke my fixated train of thought, reminding me of my precarious position and the likely dangers that I'd face. Unfortunately, it's too late to regret about it now.

I turned around with speed that I didn't know I possessed. I was faced with a blood caked mane and a salivating jaw, along with a pair of black beady eyes, all hungry for some much needed night time snack and I swallowed heavily. I've only ever heard of the chimaera, and never had the pleasure of combating one, being closed in Olympus and all. Now, though, I wished I was back behind those golden gates that drowns you in boredom but also prevents you from getting eaten.

It prowled forward cockily, sensing that its victim was weak and unable to defend, knowing that it had secured its meal for the night. The serpent tail twitched in excitement as the hind legs of a goat tensed and prepared to spring forward, the lion's meaty jaw widening, showing its rows of sharp teeth, when suddenly, it froze. Those hooves of the chimaera were still poised in midair, ready to push down its victim, when a sickening sound of a blade sliced the wind and stabbed through the body of the monster, reducing it into harmless dust.

I looked up at my savior, so shocked by the whole event that I would later swore spanned a whole hour, when it only took a few seconds. A pair of sea green eyes met mine. I shifted towards the left and was met with startling grey ones. I scrunched up my brow in confusion, and then looked down towards the bloodied sword in the man's hand. The only realization that I could remember of this encounter before darkness took over and swept me away from consciousness, was that I had seen my own eyes reflected back at me in those swirling grey of hers.

* * *

_The wailing of a baby echoed and rang through the wide hall of the twelve. Hera's footsteps quickened to place the child into her crib in Volumna's quarters. _

_Volumna took the newborn tenderly into her arms and settled into a rocking movement to calm down the crying babe and put her to sleep. Hera paced back out into the hall and was confronted by two angry and unlikeliest of grandparents. _

"_What have you done now, Hera? This is not acceptable. You return her straight back to the hospital," Poseidon said in an angry undertone._

"_Don't you feel put out that they didn't tell you about her, your own granddaughter? They entrusted me to care for their daughter here in Olympus, not you. And they had expected no one would know of it!" Hera sneered in retort._

"_Don't you dare insult my daughter's intelligence! She knows you can keep a secret when you want to. You've proven to us how manipulative you could be multiple times," Athena attacked with her vicious words._

_Hera laughed lightly, the melodious tinkling tinged with slight irony. "You know, Athena, sometimes I do know what I'm doing. I'm not just a crazed woman trying to create havoc. You seem to always forget that at the verge of breaking, I'm the one who had put this family back together, hun. You won't understand why I'm doing this even if I tell you, so I suggest you go along with the plan and try not to tear my had work to pieces in the process will you?" Hera replied haughtily and left in a swirling of silk the colors of the feather of a peacock, leaving the god of sea and goddess of wisdom conflicted beyond belief._


	7. Chapter 6

I was nine, and I was running through the gardens in Hera's hall, giggling madly with the young dryads that resided on Olympus with my long, raven hair flowing behind me in a mass of curls that refused to be tamed. I was stomping my way through a well maintained patch of dandelions, making the seeds fly into the air. I froze suddenly, and then sneezed a squeaky sneeze, blowing all the floating seeds away from me. The dryads gave a tinkling laugh, then led me to the base stone statue to play braid that hair. I remembered concentrating really hard on trying to braid Nana's slippery green hair, when I sneezed again, knocking the base of my head against the hard stone base of the statue. It hurt.

I was never one to cry at any situation, even at the tender age of nine. So what did I do when I'm barely two digits old and had hit my head against stubborn hard stone? I stood from my perch on the mossy grass, turned and glared as intimidating as possible for a nine year old at the tall statue staring down at my petite form. I remembered looking at the two figures in fighting stance, armed with impressive weapons and yelling indignantly that they had no reason to condemn me to that hurtful head injury. It's quite a funny scene now that I think back to it.

"I don't even know you!" I remembered yelling, then noticing a small pile of brown poo at the edge of the stone base, before laughing crazily and pointing, saying that they got their share of karma. Now, in the possibilities of the subconscious mind and the manipulations of Hypnos, my fuzzy dream vision focused in on the figure with the armored girl about 17 years of age, and zoomed in to the perfectly carved irises of her best feature upon her face. If I could put colors onto the sculpture and looked into those swirling greys –

I jolted awake from my fainting spell with a ragged breath and a racing heart. My eyes frantically searched around for familiar surroundings. White walls with no decorations whatsoever, a bedside table with a pitying display of flowers. Another table, bigger with simple design, was at the foot of the bed. Bed. I sat up slowly, still groggy from sleep, and looked around. I noticed that it was still dark outside, and a strong fire was going at the nightly sing along gathering, as I'd been informed of. I sighed in relived, knowing that I hadn't slipped away for too long. Now, to see if I can sneak away and join the others at the sing along…

I silently slipped out from underneath the comforter and tip toed to the door. I turned the doorknob carefully, and nudged open a silver of space, before slipping out into the hallway undetected. I stepped gingerly onto the wood paneled floor, before running on my tip toes towards the front door. As I was just reaching out to push open the door that lead to the porch, a loud cough alerted me to a presence at the end of the hall which I just brazenly ran down on.

I turned, and smiled as innocently as I could at Chiron's neutral face, to which he indicated for me to enter his office with shake of his head towards his opened door. I followed him in and shut the heavy door close. He indicated me to sit on one of the chairs and folded his arms with a serious face. I gulped and took a seat on the left chair.

"Would you mind telling me why you were sneaking around in the woods late at night?" he asked sternly, he must have been wondering why on earth would I even consider going into the woods after the orientation, which gave us a list of monsters that could be found in that patch of dark greenery.

"I was just wandering around after dinner, and I got lost," I lied as best as I could, and it seemed like he was convinced.

"Did you hear anything?"

"What do you mean? Weren't there only two people nearby? The two that killed the monster," I questioned to the best of my ability, as if I hadn't been eavesdropping at all.

Chiron gave a soft harrumph, before nodding to himself as if trying to reassure whatever thoughts he may have.

"Off you go then, no need to explain why you'd want to sneak out," he gave an understanding smile that I answered with my awkward one before rushing out of the Big House.

I marched down towards the campfire and sat at the back of the crowd. Everybody around me was in high spirits, the flame at the center burning a high and bright yellow orange, reflecting the campers' mood. They would be, I thought, having come back to the place where they are safe and surrounded by people like them; all with the same suffers and wins.

I, on the other hand, felt a little out of sorts. It hasn't even been a full day yet, and I had gotten myself into such a confusing situation! But now was not the time to reflect and be moody, I did come here to have a bit of fun, didn't I? A boy about my age was sitting a few feet away from me, and I decided it's time to be a bit more sociable.

I scooted over and stuck out my hand, saying, "Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Rose."

Time seemed to slow down. The face that turned to face me was not one that I had expected. I had expected dull colors: brown, green, blue, black; not the liquid gold that pooled in the deep irises of the boy's eyes that stood out against his dark brown spikes, strong jaw and a slightly crooked nose. He looked down towards my hand, then back up towards my face, before tentatively taking my hand in his and giving it one solid shake.

"I'm sorry," he said, before shaking his head a bit and looking back at me with a small smile.

"Uh, I'm Xav, nice to meet you too," he gave a small wave, and I laughed. Who gives a wave when you introduce yourself? Xav does, apparently.

That's when I noticed that everybody was standing up and heading back to their respective cabins. I stood as well, giving a hand to help Xav before saying bye and heading to Cabin 11, before I noticed that Xav too was heading towards the Hermes cabin.

"Hey," I turned around and said to Xav who had been walking behind me, "Your dad's Hermes?" I asked surprised, because he looked nothing like Hermes' children.

"Oh, no, no, I'm not, I'm just bunking with them for now," he shook his head, a hand coming up to play with the spikes.

We kept walking and I thought to get some questions in to fill the silence. "So how long have you been here?"

"Three years," his answer came fast.

I turned to give him a look that expressed my shock. "Three years? How come you haven't been claimed yet? Are you not thirteen yet?" questions kept popping into my head.

"Whoa, slow down. It's not a big deal. Yes I haven't been claimed, that's why I'm bunking with the pranksters, and no, I'm not thirteen," he huffed out incredulously, "Do I look like I'm thirteen?" a hand waved down his lean body, and my eyes followed. Nope, not a prepubescent body at all. Hot damn. I shook myself from these teenage hormones filled thoughts before asking, "Then how old are you?"

"Fifteen," he replied.

Unfortunately, my interaction with the hot dude had to end. We stopped at the junction towards the boys and girls dorms. "I've got to, uh, head to bed, so uh, goodnight," he said, while giving a shy smile.

"Night to you too," I greeted back with a nod, before turning down the girls' hall.

As I slipped under the covers after washing up and making sure all my drawers were locked, I thought back to my hectic day that may have been normal to anyone else. From that elevator ride, to my first ever car ride, then towards the conversation in the office, all that activities, and of course, inevitably, another conversation which I've eavesdropped on and my talk with Chiron. Many things could've been the center of my thought before I fell asleep, but the last thing I thought of was hot, liquid gold that pooled and pooled into a warm cocoon, wrapping around me and strapping me in, a willing prisoner to the irresistible pull.

* * *

"Get up, sweet cheeks!"

My ears bled at that dreadful attempt to get me awake, and I forced my eyes open and moved out of my bed just to stop this _sweet cheeks_ nonsense. Dan's voice had never been as annoying as it did at this moment.

It wasn't until I started to head towards the showers to get cleaned up that I realized Dan was not the only one up to this 'sweet cheeks' thing. Whispers of laughs followed as I walked towards a stall, someone even shouted out to me before throwing his head back and laughing heartily. I looked down at myself, and upon finding no sticky notes saying ridiculous thing stuck anywhere on my body, I shrugged and continued on my path. A rich voice chuckled to my left, and I turned to only stumble back a step in surprise. My foot caught on a stubborn brick and gravity was bound to slam my back onto the ground if not for the strong arm that shot out and held on to my waist before pulling me upright.

I peered up at those sparkling golden eyes that were mere inches away from my own, my eyes widening as I looked down towards our pressed up bodies. Xav followed my gaze and the both of us pushed away from our unintended embraced and blushed a bright red. In the light of day, Xav looked much younger and lighter, the sun casting light shadows against his high cheek bones and the slight chubbiness in his cheeks. Another big difference was his spikes. In their place was soft dark hair than flopped down carelessly all over his head.

After we both had a laugh at my clumsiness, Xav gave me the reason for everyone's seemingly coordinated nickname for me. "Um, you got 'sweet cheeks' written on your, uh, the back of your pants," Xav said while trying to stop his laugh from breaking out. He was not really successful.

Having realized what he said, I turned to inspect my butt.

"What the – oh gods, who the heck –" I stammered out upon finding my pajamas had that offending phrase written in bold red strokes of marker right where my butt cheeks are.

Xav laughed at my mutterings of death threats and pushed me towards the bathroom stalls, "Go. I'll meet you at the dining pavilion."

Smug hot dude.

Breakfast was filling and I had trouble getting up and moving on to the activities for the day. This time, it's combat lessons.

"Oh yes, this is what I'm waiting for," I rubbed my hands together in anticipation.

"Combat lessons? That's what you're most excited for? Wow, you may be a child of Ares, although it's hard to say," Xav mused incredulously.

I'm hit with the realization that my first friend, in all technicalities, _can't_ know anything about me. Neither do all other friends that I'd make in the future. Xav doesn't know that I'd been cooped up in Olympus all my life, the one place all demigods wished to go. Xav doesn't know that I'm not a demigod; I'm just a mere mortal. Xav doesn't know that learning how to battle was the only thing that I was interested in because it might just make me fit in with all the other magical powers the inhabitants of Olympus possessed.

Said friend looked at me, a little concerned that my mood had just ran down so quickly, but I gave him a reassuring smile to assure him that I'm alright.

"Who knows? Maybe I'll be a representative of violence," I gave a wry smile.

Combat lessons were held in the arena. We were herded over to the center where an instructor stood and a wide array of celestial bronze weapon were laid out in a long table next to the raised platform.

"That's Percy Jackson, the hero of Olympus and everything else, he's kind of big around here," Xav pointed to the instructor and explained his significance.

I squinted my eyes and tried to pinpoint where I'd seen him before. His name I've heard of, but the sentiments were not the same. Apparently, the Olympians don't like him that much. But the name Percy…

That was the name the grey eyed woman yelled the other night when I was attacked. So this was the guy that had been 'dealing' with Hera. Well, since he's the hero and all, it seemed to not be abnormal for him to have relations with the Olympians. But how do I factor myself in this complicated equation that I'd thought I'd been a part of just yesterday night?

Maybe I might just be thinking too deep in this.

The lesson was starting and Xav had dragged me over to the weapons table to help me outfit myself. I shook myself from these musings and got my mind ready to keep up with these battle reflex armed demigods.

* * *

"_Ambrosia? Where are you?" a woman adorned with a flowing robe flitted in and out of rooms down the hallway, softly calling for a young girl about four who was currently hiding in the walk in closet of said woman trying to find her, thinking this was a game of hide and seek. But the increasingly worried and agitated tone of the goddess said otherwise. _

"_There you are," Hera sighed in relieve, and then quickly arranged her features into one of disapproving that demanded attention. "Why were you hiding here? Didn't I tell you that you are not allowed into my quarters?"_

_The little girl was picked up by the goddess and they were proceeding quickly down the hall and into a floating stone bridge arching over clear blue sky and scattering white clouds, a beautiful day in Olympus. Ambrosia's big eyes widened as she spotted the clouds and tried to reach out to touch them, when she was quickly pulled away by a slim hand._

"_Were you listening, Ambrosia?" Hera's eyes darkened. _

_Little Ambrosia nodded guiltily, grey eyes brimming with tears as her full attention focused on the goddess. Hera sighed at the familiar sight, and she put little Ambrosia down onto the stone bridge and held on to her shoulders tightly to make sure that she listened to what she had to say._

"_Now, Rose, I need you to go to Aunt Volumna and ask her to lock the chamber's door, alright? She is in your room; can you do that for me?" Hera asked patiently, making sure to pronounce her words slowly, while Ambrosia furrowed her brow in concentration, then brightened up and nodded, before quipping a cheerful "Yes, Hera!" and ran across the bridge in the pitter patter of little feet to hopefully find the goddess of nursery._

_Hera stood from her crouch looking on to where Ambrosia had disappeared with a hint of a smile on her full red lips, before she steeled her posture and turned around firmly and walked towards the ruckus in her main hall. _

_She faced the ornate doors to her hall, hearing the clanging and banging of things being pushed off its place and the opening of doors. Hera took a breath, her lips then had just only been earnestly smiling at an innocent child was now turned into a malicious grin to face the complicity of the world and its ancient society._


	8. Chapter 7

"This is not good," I said in an undertone to myself, sweating buckets under the heavy bronze helm and the long broad sword in my arm.

After Percy had given us all a basic introduction on the forearm forward jab, we were paired off to practice on our partner. And my partner was none other than third year camper Xav. He had a superior glint in his eyes as he turned to me in full body armor and a long sword, while I started out with just a helm and a simple broad sword. His first move was unexpected, and I had just moved my body just in time to avoid his hit, before he moved to attack my side, his sword hitting my back hard.

I turned to glare at him through the slits of the helm, before breathing in a deep breath, taking an aggressive stance and retaliated. I jabbed my sword forward, taking advantage of its length before withdrawing and hitting his back while he avoided my first move, the exact replica of his first attack on me. He swung his head up in surprised and turned to where my sword had made contact on his back, and then looked up to the victorious grin I had on my face.

We spared for about fifteen minutes before Percy called in a five minute break. I followed Xav and the rest of the group towards the cooler to grab a drink and rest on the bench by the side of the arena. We had taken off our helms for our break on the bench when he said, "You're pretty good. Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

I was about to answer him when I realized that I can't give him the real answer, which consist of running around Olympus during times when I had nothing to do. That doesn't exactly explain why I'm good at combat either. All I could do was answer as honestly as possible.

"I don't know."

We settled into a comfortable silence after that, resting our bodies to prepare for another great exertion. When we were called back towards the demonstration platform, it was time to show our instructor how we'd been doing, even if he had walked rounds during the fifteen minutes practice that just passed.

"I need a volunteer, show me how far you guys got," the early thirties said, and immediately, a sea of arms shot up, taking the golden chance and bragging rights to say that they have battled with the hero of Olympus before.

Percy seemed to have expected the enthusiastic reaction, and his eyes roamed the room before settling the pair of sea green on mine.

A small gasp escaped me as I realized that _this_ was the person wielding that sword that had saved me from being a monster meal. Suddenly, I felt heat rising up, ashamed that I hadn't even thought of asking their wellbeing and their whereabouts so that I could properly thank them when they were brought up in that conversation with Chiron. I got even redder when he pointed at me before gesturing for me to get up on the platform.

He wanted me to spar with him.

How could I refuse?

I gulped down a much needed breath of air, before stepping up shakily onto the platform. The arena hushed down as hopefuls put their hands down in disappointment while others who knew of my newbie status tried to conceal their glee at a possible total knock down. Percy inspected the crowd as I made my way across the platform to respectable distance from him, and he seemed to frown a little, before moving off to the side, grabbing a bottled water from the below the platform and tossing it to my direction.

Something made me react and catch the bottle before it tumbled uselessly on the platform, saving myself from embarrassment. I looked back up to see Percy holding an identical bottle to me and pouring its content over his head. He gestured for me to do the same. "It'll help, I hope," he said while giving a tentative smile.

I followed his advice, a little curious about why he'd do it, when I felt it. As the water from the bottle poured over my head and wiped away the sweat, a surge of energy ran through my veins and I opened my eyes clearer and more focused than ever. Suddenly, I could feel _everything_, every single nerve endings in my body were sparking with an overload of sensory. The stream of water that had nearly been all but forgotten ran down my face and touched my lips. My tongue automatically flitted out to taste it. Huh, it's salty.

"Salt water?" I asked across the platform.

He shrugged in response. Ah. I get it. He was Poseidon's son; of course he'd use salt water to his advantage. Why he thought he'd need it, I'll never understand.

Percy raised his sword to indicate for me to start. I glanced at the famed Riptide in his hands, so much more than the used and worn sword in mine. I took a deep breath, reveling in my new found energy, before driving my sword right at my opponent's direction.

He blocked it effortlessly; using my force against me, pushing back and making me stumble. I righted myself, then whirled and raised my sword with both arms to block an attack from behind, which he was now situated. How he got there so fast for someone his size and so silently, I'll never know, but with my senses on high alert, I could almost feel his heat resonating from his position. His stance held strong against my block, but with a last burst of strength I pushed back, using the blocking technique he used against me to make him stumble back in shock, but not before a shower of sparks ignite from the harsh clash of metal against metal. And before he could recover, I had placed myself with his back facing me and did a sudden burst of run before jumping and angling my blade flat against his back, hitting the small of his back, making a resounding slap sound across the silent arena.

The thud of the hero's knees hitting the hard floor of the platform echoed through right after the sharp slap. My rusty sword clanged to the floor as it fell from my previously iron grip, now reduced to a tremor as my whole arm shook from the sudden exertion, making my mediocre physical fitness obvious. Harsh breath escaped through my opened mouth as sweat poured down my face, the sudden burst of energy all gone, now replace with shock and panic.

I ordered my tired limbs to move and scrambled over to a kneeling Percy, where he must be in pain, I realized, as he haven't even attempted to get up yet. I knelt and pushed some hair that had gotten stuck on my face because of sweat out of the way and asked if he was okay. A rough "Yeah, I'll be fine," was all I got before he groaned lowly, filling me with guilt. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know what I was doing, this is my first lesson and I didn't know where I'm not supposed to hit and," I babbled out an embarrassing rush of excuse, all the while with my hands flitting around his crouched form trying to see what I can do to help. Upon finding none, I ended up asking him, "What can I do to help?"

"Could you –" another groan, "help me get Annabeth?" he barely looked up from his fixated stare on the ground while he grounded out his request through clenched teeth.

Annabeth. Was she the girl with him the other night? I didn't dwell on that passing thought, instead yelling out for someone to search for Annabeth, sure that they would be more effective in that seemingly crucial job than me. But Percy didn't need to wait for long. Not a minute after his request had been passed through the throngs of campers gathered in the arena had Annabeth burst through the gates and rushed to where Percy and I were kneeling on the raised platform which she jumped on with ease.

I was standing to the side while Annabeth tended to Percy when a familiar voice spoke to my side.

"You really got him good, Rose. I consider myself very lucky to have witness this scene," Xav said, making me jump up in fright.

"Oh my gods, couldn't you have made a noise?" I whined, but internally sighed in relieved that it wasn't just some random person who just happened to know my name.

"Do you whine this much? I might have to reconsider this whole friend thing we have going on," he raised an eyebrow humorously.

"No, don't leave me alone now. I've got this thing to deal with; I'm pretty sure Annabeth has got something to say to me," I said as I glanced towards the couple's direction warily.

As if she had heard me, Annabeth's hauntingly familiar grey eyes flitted to mine amidst the crowd and she gestured for me to follow them.

"I guess that's my cue," I gulped and said my byes to Xav before heading out of the arena, following the couple's retreating form that was heading tom the Big House, presumably to the infirmary.

Annabeth reached the Big House and kicked open the door, leading a leaning heavily Percy into the infirmary that I had occupied only just last night. Percy plopped down with a heavy grunt and rolled over to curl into a fetal position, while Annabeth fussed about, rearranging the sheets and whatnot.

"Could you please go and get Chiron for me, kid?" Annabeth requested without breaking her concentration on adjusting the sheets.

"Yeah," I replied guiltily and stepped out of the room to go and search for the Director. I hadn't needed to search far, as he came bursting in the front door just as I stepped into the living room. Words travel fast here, and it has only been late morning.

Chiron passed my petite form with the clopping of his hooves against the hard wood floor, not having changed back into his human disguise in haste of getting to Percy. I peeked in between the space of the door which was left slightly ajar, and it hadn't been a second before Annabeth's eyes expertly locked on mine and motioned for me to come in. I pushed the door opened wider to make way and shut it quietly behind me to avoid disturbing Chiron whom was treating to Percy's back.

As Percy was being treated, I couldn't help but noticed that his posture seemed a bit… odd. I was quickly distracted by the sudden break in silence by Annabeth.

"So, you got a hit in?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh, yeah," I answered nervously, a hand coming up to rest on the back of my neck self-consciously before I noticed what I was doing and quickly shoving it back down into the claps of the other hand.

"You must be quite good, but you're a beginner, so how'd you manage to do that?" she questioned out loud, a serious expression on her face, as if she really wanted to know.

I tried to think back to how I had bested the hero, and I answered as I thought, not being one to think things through before speaking. "I guess Xav showed me some moves by demonstrating them on me and I caught on, the one I used was one I just learnt today, and then Percy offered me some salt water, and after that was just a blur…"

"Xav? Xavier Dangelo?" she asked with an incredulous tone, but her eye had tightened slightly, a nervous edge to a strong front she had been putting up.

"What's wrong with Xav?" I asked, confused by the questioning of Xav's name.

Those previously tensed eyes softened and she turned her focus back onto Percy, saying a small, "Never mind," that floated in the still atmosphere in the infirmary.

I gave a long sigh, and prepared myself for some more interrogation that I'd be subjected to, I'm sure.

* * *

_Shoves and pushes could be heard as the protests that followed echoed down the vast hall, reaching the ears of a very annoyed goddess. Hadn't they learn that they couldn't possibly best her in her methods after all these years, she wondered. _

_Up the hall, a determined Percy was pushing open heavy, ornate doors, banging them against pristine walls in the process, more often than not making a dent in the flawless paintwork. Annabeth methodically pulled open all drawers and cupboards, making sure to scan every nook and corner before leaving the vandalized room in dust and moving towards another. As Percy prepared to ram his beyond bruised shoulder into another priceless door, the clicking of expensive heels could be heard as it rang down form the end of the hall. _

_The couple stopped their movements and landed their gaze on the goddess walking at a leisure pace towards them._

"_Demigods never do give up, do they?" questioned Hera as she picked up a rose daintily from a beautifully arranged bouquet placed on the side table in the hall. _

"_Guess that's why gods need us, don't they?" Percy retorted silently with a slight shift of his head, an intimidating move against the goddess nonchalant behavior. _

_Hera narrowed her eyes into slits and stepped forward, towering over the two defiant heroes' forms. "Leave, you won't find her here, as I've told you all the years before. There's no use in searching blindly, this was the plan and now I'm making my part in it," she warned._

_Annabeth had been shaking as soon as Hera had opened her mouth, and she couldn't stop the tirade that followed, even if she would be sentenced to take Atlas' place under the sky. "No, you wretched little – You take away my child when we told you that we would bring her to you. You refused to let us see her, when we negotiated that we would visit at least twice a week. She was to be integrated into our scheduled time up here on Olympus and now even that privileged had been stripped away from us," her chest heaved as she took in deep breaths in order to calm herself enough not to take a hit on the goddess precious face, "You dare say that you're keeping your part of the deal, the plan?"_

_Hera glared down snobbishly, "You've destroyed enough for this year, come back next year, and we'll see how lucky you get the next time," and she turned to walk back down from where she came at the end of the hall, turning down a corridor and leaving the couple's sights._

_Annabeth stared hard at the retreating form clad in delicate silk, trembling heavily to hold in the rush of emotions clawing to get out._

"_She'd be ten by tomorrow." _

_Grey eyes brimming with unshed tears turned onto green ones that were slowly turning red at the sudden change in the train of thought. _

"_Yeah, she would be."_


	9. Chapter 8

I huffed as my sport shoe clad feet hit against the sand as it began to turn golden at the orange beam of the rising sun, turning the dawning sky an array of pink, purple and orange – a little girl's dream. Trying not to kick up too much sand for it to stick on any piece of clothing, and not succeeding at it, I covered the long expand of the fireworks beach before turning back on track to return to civilization, where I would get to the showers and use up all the hot water. Hey! It not my fault some people can't get up early!

And it wasn't like I wanted to anyway. Sleep had _always_ been peaceful and full of dreams, except for that night before the much anticipated journey. When I had looked up the dictionaries for 'nightmares' after Hera asked if I'd been having any after being told of my unusual history, I had been extremely puzzled and amuse beyond belief. The idea of a terrifying scene plaguing one's sleep when they could have some semblance of control over it had been unrelatable to me at the age of six, but as I grew older, I would be admired for not having nightmares by the inhabitants of Olympus, not that deities even sleep.

Now, I have a suspicion that I'm paying up my share of nightmares that I've been happily avoiding through my childhood, and I've found out that running is a great outlet to all the heightened emotions the nightmares caused and a good way at keeping them away from another visit in the same night.

The first night it came was the night after the disastrous combat lesson. I'd been so exhausted, mentally and physically, that I practically plopped into bed with all my clothes on after barely managing to kick off my shoes. Snuggled deep in the thin summer blanket on my bed, my mind was assaulted by images of massive waves and a great hurricane, thundering and shaking, as if the earth had tried to split itself open. In the midst of it stood a familiar figure, but I can't seem to make out anything besides the short, dark hair that was flopping about in the monstrous wind.

I yelled as the figure was taken down by a wave when a crack started right beneath it, and, caught unaware, the figure dropped, and then clung to the soft, upturned soil by a sword that came out of nowhere. I looked around, trying desperately to yell at someone to go save this person. But I realized that I'm all alone in this blurred reality, and only I could go and save this person from falling right into the fiery pit of Tartarus. That was where it always ended, and for the past week the nightmare stayed at that annoying and pacifying state, until today.

I put my hands on my knees as I neared the shower stalls. Turning into one of the spots I've found near it, I dragged out my change of clothes and the bag of toiletries that I'd hidden there so that there would be no need to go waking up a cabin full of grumpy campers with my loud stomping. I proceeded to one of the modest shower stalls and quickly stripped and rinsed and made quick work of the shower. Once the water hit my back, I'd calmed my racing heart from the earlier and longer run than usual.

After I had woken from my first nightmare, my body was just itching to do something. My mind not having caught up from the shock of having a nightmare, I had my sports gear in my hand and was running out the cabin door before I'd realized I had even moved. The ideal venue had come naturally; the salt water spring being the comfort I depended on up in Olympus, so here, the sea would have to do. Funny how much salt water had integrated itself into my life.

Something changed in my nightmare last night. Instead of looking around to find people to help, I had screamed at the top of my lungs for the gods at the churning sky, yelling for them to do something, and came to the same conclusion that it had to be me to go and save that person. And as it was, it ended right at the cusps of what I wanted to know most – whether I had went up to save that poor bastard whom had been hounding my sleep or not.

I sighed into the steam the hot water had created against the slightly cooler air of the morning. I guess I'll just have to wait for another grueling night of sleep, I thought gloomily.

I can't help but wonder if hurting Percy had anything to trigger the stubborn knot in the nightmare machine. I had been expecting a lot of stern faces and kitchen duties as punishment after being lead to the Big House, but none found their way into the world as I was let out after Percy was deemed ok enough to head back to the Poseidon cabin, Annabeth following without a backwards glance, her neck stiff with worry about her other half's vulnerable situation, I would say.

The one ending up doing the interrogation had been an over excited Xav, whom had cornered me as I walked back towards the Hermes cabin to get ready for our shower time.

"Rose, spill, now," he said urgently as he pushed me up the wall on the side of the shower stalls, a gleam in his liquid eyes as a small grin played at his lips.

"They didn't seemed to be overly upset at anything," I shrugged, "but Percy seems ok now, if that's what you're worried about," I said, wondering what else did he think I would have to _spill_, as he said.

"Wow," Xav shook his head and he leaned back with a look of surprise on his face, and I cocked my head to the side in question.

"I mean, did you not realize that you had made the unbeatable kneel in front of you in a duel?" Xav laughed incredulously, and then shook his head in disbelief again. "Tell me about the rush, you know?"

I looked at him, wondering about the opinion he had just voiced, and the fact that it had never occurred in my mind. Then, I gave him a good slap on the back of his stupid, stupid head.

"The _unbeatable_ kneeling? That's all you saw from the whole event? Gods, did you not worry for him at all?" I admonished.

Xav looked stunned, and then had the decency to look slightly guilty. "Well, I'd been here long enough to know that a blow wouldn't keep him down for long, and seeing you using my move on him and catching him off guard kinda, well, it kinda caught me off guard too."

I looked at his pink cheeks, and then sighed, before telling him that I'd meet him at the dining hall, as usual, before giving him a reassuring smile and heading off to shower.

I was brought back from my musings as a ruckus seemed to have started up, what with the sudden yell and stampede of feet rushing pass the toilet stalls. Plopping my soapy hair atop my head, I stuck my head out to see what was going on, and was quickly forced to pull my head back at the sudden rush of people running to avoid being beheaded. Why were there armed campers rushing towards half-blood hill at this hour of the day?

I quickly dried and dress myself, then sneaked behind the troops at the Thalia's pine (the senior campers have some difficulty explaining why the tall pine that marks the entrance was given that name, and they gave up in the end, resulting in me still not knowing its name's significance). Peaks of silver shone in the minimal lighting, and the tip of an arrow surfaced in the sea of people before disappearing again. Oh, the Hunters of Artemis have arrived.

How did I know of them? Artemis never manages to shut up about her precious hunters during meeting which I sneaked into, and Artemis preferred color and weapon had been silver and a bow and arrow, not that hard for me to make the connection, and it seemed to my observation, which was that the campers do not get along very well with them. I watched with a raised brow as the girls draped in silver marched pass stiffly while the armed campers stared stoically. Things might just be spiced up after all, I thought with an excited grin.

* * *

_Hera frowned as she looked down the clouds drifting below the bridge that connected her quarters to Ambrosia's. A hero had been brought in after suffering an attack from a drakon near Long Island Sound. Perseus had personally saved that boy and brought the bleeding heavily young to the infirmary. They hadn't had time to notice his eyes yet, but they will be utterly frozen with fear at the shiver it will cause and the rain of painful memories that will dominate they minds._

_She heard the running feet of a child and looked towards the sound to see Ambrosia running towards her with a bandage around her head. She was instantly alarmed and rushed over to check for any injuries. Ambrosia had been stunned by the outward worry that was shown in the goddess' face, which previously only displayed indifference and annoyance. _

"_What happened?" Hera sharp tone cut through the pleasant breeze._

"_I sneezed and hit the back of my head against the stone statue in your gardens," Ambrosia's little but smart voice sounded a little sheepish and worried that Hera would scold her for going into her quarters to play, __**again**__._

"_Oh," Hera breathed a sigh of relief, and then her tone sharpened once again to give her little child a talk on going unpermitted into her halls again. _

_Hera thought ironically, that the statue that was planted against her will in the shadiest spot in her garden was meant to be an offense against her. It had been the one to hurt their daughter too. But the goddess feared that even the greatest heroes even seen in the whole of Greek history was about to face something more than they can handle, and she had to make sure that her plan do not fail her at such a desperate time that others did not had the foresight to see._

* * *

I was stationed by the edge of the forest, far away from the heaviest action that was taking place near the creek. I could hear the waves behind me, and they gave their comfort for my bored state in a supposedly exciting battle.

As was customary, I was told that whenever the hunters arrived for a stay, a game of capture the flag was issued with the Hunters taking a side against the campers. Also customary, all the boys (mostly satyrs) would go around spending their time snooping on the hunters and mooning over their preciousness. All the senior campers were surprisingly good friends with the leader of the hunters, a frightening looking girl named Thalia, and they were chatting like old friends around the campfire during the sing along as if they'd been doing this since they were born. Though the coincidence of the hunters' leader's name did not escape my notice, I was busy listening Xav trying to explain to me the general schedule now that it had changed due to the hunters' presence.

I was not foreign to capture the flag, as it was played on Friday each fortnight, and in my first hectic week, I've added the game into my exhausting experience. My first game, I was still trying to adjust towards the added weight of the armor required, and I had been stationed near the east of the forest, where fights were involved but none that were too heavy for me keep up. The Hermes cabin had been well impressed by me in the combat lesson, and had expected more of a fanfare in the game. Guessed I'd disappointed them, greedy little heroes these were.

Now that they know that I'm nothing special, they put me in the most boring place that anyone could be subjected to other than sitting out. Not that I don't appreciate the soothing sounds of the sea, but how am I supposed to get better at fighting while listening to the waves crashing against the shore?

A sudden rise in noise and yell caught my attention and I swung my head to the creek, directly in front of where I was standing. The trees of the forest started shaking; leaves were being ruffled, and out came the group of sons of Hecate and Ares, all with their weapons raised and coming in my direction.

"What the –" I managed to get out half an expletive before I had to start running to get out of their way. What they were aiming for, I don't know, but I sure as Hades am not getting in the middle of that!

And that's where everything went to Hades and somewhere further. Because I don't think Hades would have sufficed to hold the havoc that followed.

Somehow, I had gotten pushed back into the waves, my feet sinking in sand as I tried to get out of their way. As I did so, I realized that my effort was all for nothing, because they seemed to be coming for _me_. Confusion took a small space before it was rushed out by the panic ignited by the sights of so many weapons raised and the strong sense of survival and self-preservation set in.

My mind went blank. A roar sounded.

And the proud sons of two powerful deities were drenched head to toe with seaweed draped across their heads to boot.

And I realized that I'm fifty feet away from the shore where I stood not just five seconds ago.

Oh, Hades.


	10. Chapter 9

I can't take this anymore. Everybody has been acting weird since the 'beach incident', as I called it. They gave me a wide berth as I walk by, they don't speak to me unless necessary, they don't even _look_ at me. Personally, I like my new found voodoo over water.

When it had happened, it had taken me quite a while to grasp on what had been going on, even longer to figure out that it had been _my_ doing. A concerned Chiron had trotted to see what the fuss was about. One look at the drenched boys and the newbie in water, he immediately ordered the Apollo kids to attend to the sons of Ares and Hecate less they catch some kind of flu to spread around camp, before walking forward to ask me to follow him to his office, all the while looking like he was suppressing a grin.

I was internally scolding myself for getting into so much trouble when it had not been three weeks since I arrived in Camp Half-Blood, and that surely I'm facing some sort of expulsion they might give to troublesome campers. I was extremely surprised when I was lead, not to the office as Chiron had initially said, but to the ping pong slash meeting room. I had gotten a lot more nervous when the door opened to reveal the bunch of senior campers who had been staying during their summer break and had chosen to sit out of the game to do some much needed catching up.

They all looked up when Chiron and I came in, and immediately after, all their eyes turned to me. I recognized the Stoll twins, Percy, Annabeth and Thalia. But the rest of them were only mere flashes in my blurred memory of first introductions during the first week.

"Would you mind telling them what has happened at the beach?" Chiron asked in a gentle voice, no doubt sensing my nerves and dread. I looked back with confused eyes. Since when did we need a panel of judges for dealing with insignificant troubles? At least, it seemed to be a small problem to me.

"Well," I started, now focused on the perplexing situation that had just occurred, and it flashed by in my head like something out of a movie. "I had been patrolling the edges of our territory, and I heard a commotion going on by the creek due north of my position. Not a few seconds later, about ten or so campers ran through the forest and out onto the beach where I was patrolling. I recognized that they were all boys and that they were of Ares and Hecate from their armor, and I rushed to get out of their way by backing up into the sea. That was kind of where everything went slightly…bizarre!" I said and exclaimed, engrossed and totally curious about the mysterious situation I'd found myself in.

"What happened next?" Percy urged softly, green eyes intense as they stare back in mine, as if he was expecting a certain reply.

"I got defensive when I realized that they were aiming at me with their weapons. When I opened my eyes again, I was somehow further into the sea than I previously was, and the weird and funny thing was, the boys were all covered in seaweed!" my tone held a hint of hysterics towards the end, believing that they would have brush it off as an active imagination as I did myself.

What I didn't expect were serious eyes looking back, and the sudden side glances sent furiously to Percy. The minute I noticed those actions, I caught on.

"Oh no, no, guys, I'm not directly related to the gods," and now they were all staring at me incredulously, silently asking for another explanation for the 'beach incident'. "Calm down, no need to go running off to piss off some god," I laughed lightly, "I was told by my aunt when I came here that you guys was supposed to put me in the second generation area," I explained, "so I'm definitely not a spawn of that old – uh, I mean, Poseidon. Yeah, I'm not a daughter of Poseidon," I stumbled over my nickname for the sea god, so used to my habit of calling insults whenever the situation allows.

"Who is this aunt you keep speaking about?" Chiron questioned.

"My father's sister," I didn't hesitate to answer, fearing that I would raise too many suspicions. Hera's warning rang in my mind, and I wondered if my mere human status being exposed would lead to these horrible consequences she mentioned as well.

"And how did she know you should be placed into the second generation?" Chiron retorted back, challenging my nonplussed reply. Aren't things getting ugly.

"She knew my parents before they passed, and she relayed whatever information they wished me to have. She was only a messenger," I tried to dissuade attention on my apparently too knowing aunt.

"Wait, so your parents are dead?" a tall and brutish looking girl vaguely resembling Tina said.

"Both of them, yes," I replied calmly.

"So either one or both of them have to a demigod for you to be a second generation," a quaint looking girl with what looks like garden gloves on her hand deduced.

"But you can't be a second generation," Percy retorted, stating it very factually, "your aura is too strong." He seemed to be struggling with his thoughts while Annabeth only stared very intensely at me by Percy's side while the rest of the meeting council thought on, and the familiarity of her stare was making me trying hard not to squirm. It was then that she spoke for the first time since Chiron and I had entered the room, "Would everyone please leave the room?"

All the senior campers looked at their, for all intents and purposes, leader, warily as they made their way out the door. Percy hesitated, then left too at Annabeth reassuring yet insistent glance.

Annabeth gave a tired sigh, then straightened herself, as if bracing for unpleasant surprises. She turned those stormy grey eyes towards me, "Tell me, what do you feel when you are near water?"

I raise a brow at that question, "Nothing special, if that's what you're fishing for. Honestly I don't know what happened myself. All I felt was fear and the need to protect myself and it just happened, you know?" I put up my hands in surrender. "Why do you send them all away anyway?" indicating to the now vacant seats strewn haphazardly around the ping pong table, a little intimidated by the one on one appointment we were having.

However, I obviously don't know Annabeth very well, because she was persistent. "How about _salt _water, specifically?"

"I already told you guys, I'm not –" I faltered slightly, her question registering in my mind. i thought of all those times when _salt_ water had been surprisingly a calming presence to me. "Actually," I glanced up furtively at those grey eyes, "I think I might have some connections?" my voice went up at the end of the sentence, unsure whether I should continue in that presumption, fearing that it might bring some unwanted information to light.

Annabeth stared a little harder. "Can you look at me, Ambrosia?" Annabeth asked, her voice softer, with a slight tremor of what, I don't know.

"Rose, " I answered automatically, "Just call me Rose," I said again, giving her a small smile as I raised my eyes up to meet hers.

She stared at me hard for a few seconds, minutes, I'm not so sure anymore. But when she broke our gaze, she turned away from me; "You may leave now," her voice muffled somehow, released me from the meeting room.

"One more thing," Annabeth said, causing me to face her turned back. "Be careful of who you choose as friends, alright?"

I frowned, remembering the show of alarm when Xav was mentioned in our last conversation. I could only give her a meek "yeah, sure" before turning the door knob and walking out of the Big House.

I remembered how Percy had worriedly rushed back in to the room after I walked out, and how the others had followed, but with lingering, curious eyes glancing my way before flitting back to worried glances. I remembered how that they all seemed to have that look that Connor had had that very first day when he got a good look at me and how odd Xav acted now compared to his carefree behavior, slightly cheeky too, before.

That night when I returned to bed, my nightmare was the last thing on my mind. And curious enough, it left me alone this time, as if sensing I desperately needed some resting time before pumping up again to play demigod; though my 'demigod' life seemed to be much hectic and dramatic than others. And that was how I awaken to the 'stay-away-from-Rose' effect. As I had learned from my short stay in Camp Half-Blood, news travels fast, and everybody now knew that I am some water controlling she-demon that would attack you if you look at her wrongly.

I heard from whispers during breakfast in the dining pavilion that the bunch of boys who had tried to attack me, and got seaweed dumped on them in the process, had been taken into Chiron's office earlier today, and that they had no recollection whatsoever about the event. Now that I thought about it, they did have a weird gleam in their eyes during the 'beach incident'.

By the end of the night, a very skittish Xav waved a brief goodnight and retreated to his own corner in the Hermes cabin, while I was, once again, left absolutely alone to my own devices. Dawn came, and this time, instead of running to avoid the still elusive nightmare, I decided to just go relax by the beach. Something Annabeth said had been bothering me these past few days. I knew there was no way I'd be a daughter of the sea, but how does that explain the calm that being close to the sea brings me? I tried recalling how Poseidon had looked like in the few times I had met him during my childhood, and I could see some resemblance, but they were too vague to prove anything.

I sighed, and then looked out towards the push and pull of the crashing waves. They were surprisingly gentle today. I looked down towards my hands, and then looked at the waves curiously. Maybe…

I pushed my right hand outwards slightly, and I squinted at the waves, trying to see if there had been any movements. Nothing. Alright.

i repeated the motion, again and again. By the third push, I was done being gentle. I brought out two hands at once and pushed forward, bringing forth all the emotions that I had to keep inside out and into the action, as if trying to will them away.

Nothing.

I pushed myself back up from where I had made a dent in the otherwise smooth beach sand. Brushing away at my pants, I walked back towards the shower stalls, prepared for another day of side glances and whispers. And as the sun rose, and the heat warmed my back, I had no way of knowing what consequences my experimental actions would bring towards the haven of heroes.

* * *

_Percy scanned his eyes at the new batch of demigods being brought into camp. There were a few that matched the description in his memory, but none struck him as immediately as it did when he saw her._

_Every year, Percy held the hope that his daughter would one day return from wherever Hera had hidden her so that he would be able to see her face again. Annabeth, being the fiercer and more pro-active partner of the couple, took him up to Olympus to search for her a few days after her birthday, which was when their loss hit the hardest at the yearly reminder of their faults. _

_It had been hard to go back to his 'real-world' job – a teacher – when the ache of losing a child plague him so, but life does not wait for anybody, even for demigods, and he had to continue living if he were to see his daughter again. But every single summer, they would return to Camp Half-Blood under the guise of wanting to monitor the coming and goings of that side of the world. What they had secretly hoped to accomplished was to collect their daughter from Hera, as per agreed thirteen years ago. _

_Now, it had been nearly a week since the start of June, and still no sign of a raven haired, grey eyed girl. Annabeth had grown impossibly impatient, and Percy had been beside himself with restlessness that he didn't even resume his usual inspection of new comers. While Percy and Annabeth worried on, a son of Hermes was interacting with the missing person in question, having no idea who he was speaking to and its enormity, for Percy and Annabeth never told anyone besides Chiron about their stolen daughter. At first, it had been merely too hard to even speak about it, but they had realized that there was a chance Hera was playing out her deal in her own, incomprehensible way, and it was best if they continue to keep their silence._

_Connor had looked at young Rose's face, trying to guess who her godly parent could be, lest he lost his money in the running bet. What he found was not the indicator he would have liked to have found, but was tingling sensation of familiar authority and power. He tried to control the shiver as he thought about it again on his way to meet the others. When he greeted Percy and Annabeth, the feeling came over him unexpectedly, stronger than before. He cocked his head to the side as the feeling ebbed away, looking inquisitively at the couple. Did they seem to be more restless than before?_

"_What," Percy said with a light chuckle in response to his stare. Connor could only shake his head of those foolish thoughts as they all moved to lounge in the ping pong room. 'I mean, how could they have a daughter and not tell the rest of us right?' he thought. No, they couldn't have._

_And as Hera looked down upon Half-Blood Hill to check on Ambrosia, not that she would ever admit to doing that, she resigned herself that her involvement would have to be revealed should things be progressed as she would prefer. She looked down on the girl's winning smile as she observed the things around her and tried new activities, her resolve strengthen to cross over this hurdle with as little causalities as possible, and she would do as much in her power as she could to ensure that her ideals would come to light._


	11. Chapter 10

"Uff," I grunted as I pulled the string taut and positioned the arrow. I tried to aim as accurate as possible, and released my hold on the string when I felt confident enough.

"Eeek!"

I groaned. "I'm sorry, Tiffany!" I yelled. The dryad whose tree trunk I managed to bury my arrow in squeak in shock and proceeded to run away in tears. How was it that nearly every single time I attended archery class, it always ended with a certain tree disaster? As the lesson progressed to the end, I packed up the supplies and piled it at the side, then walked to the next activity of the day.

I wondered about my revelation of Hera's order to the senior campers that day, and was curious about why Hera wanted me to be placed in the second generation section. I had snooped around during my first week here, and it seemed quite new but not less impressive than the original buildings. I was glad that Percy had voiced his opinion of me not being suited there, I quite like being here in the Hermes cabin; a routine had somewhat taken shape and I would hate to have it messed up and leave me disorientated again. But it was intriguing how Percy knew my aura. Maybe he had a satyr tell him, who knows?

As I neared the canoe lake, I walked up to Xav, giving a tentative smile as we prepared for our canoe lesson. I had dropped all the pretenses that Hera had made me hold up at the start of my trip. There had been some strange looks when I had excelled in their Greek lessons, but for the water sports, I didn't really pay it any attention as the 'beach incident' had covered the insinuated bad luck pretty well, don't you think? We had been practicing with partnered canoeing for the past few lessons and I would be proud to say that it has gone as smoothly as one would expect it to have been. A little_ too_ smoothly, I concluded when I observed the other groups flailing their arms, trying to balance on the still water as we row pass them effortlessly.

We were then deemed capable enough for paired work and were set to do some solo practice. I watched as Xav waved then headed over to where his new bunch of friends from various godly parents gathered, talking animatedly as they laughed. The weirdest occurrence had happened amidst me being alienated. Kids from rival godly parents started warming up against each other. Where arguments would've broken up, and now stilted conversation would take place. But still, it's better than nothing. Personally, I think the cause of this unlikely peace was the 'beach incident'. While I had a traumatizing part in it, many focused on the rivals Ares and Hecate as they banded together by some unknown force and charged towards the_ innocent _girl – really, I had done nothing to warrant such an attack, from two of the strongest cohort heroes, no less. The demigods themselves puzzled over this bizarre event, and they found themselves no longer foes but friends.

The rest of the camp saw how strong they had become in every capture the flag event after the 'beach incident' and had followed after their albeit unconventional footsteps and gained themselves the unlikeliest allies.

Unfortunately, I seemed to have not qualified to be included in the list of potential friends. Xav had been a great company, but he had been a little distant lately. As I strapped myself in my canoe and push off the beach with a shove of my paddle, I looked towards his new group of friends. I had been really glad to see Xav talking to other people, because in my early friendship with him, I have noticed that Xav seldom socialize with people, opting to keep to himself. Annabeth's raised alarm over the mention of his name during our early run in had popped up in my mind, and I wondered if he had been involve with something bad before to be outside of an otherwise welcoming community.

As I made my lap around the lake, a yell of my name caused me to pause as I neared the docking area. It was the instructor of the class, a daughter of Nike.

"Hey, Rose!" she shouted as she neared the water. I quickly paddled to where she was standing near the edge of the wooden walkway. "Hey, you yelled for me?" I panted slightly.

"Yeah, Chiron wants you up at the Big House. Says it's urgent, so you better hurry," she rushed out and raised an eyebrow in a teasing manner as she watched me struggle out of my canoe. As I was sure I was going to lose balance and topple over into the lake from all the shaking of the canoe, I miraculously stayed dry as I hopped from balancing precariously on the canoe and onto standing steadily on the wooden walkway. The instructor, whose name I'm embarrassed to say I have forgotten, looked slacked jaw as I walked towards her.

"How did you do that?" she pointed to the floating canoe with a look of disbelief.

"What? What did I do?" I turned and looked around myself, not understanding what had caused her inquiry.

"That. The canoe was tipping over, and the water just, it just, filled over the other side, just, how did you do that?" she stuttered out, questioning.

I panic at her blabber and just gave her a shrug before running down the walkway and headed to the Big House, leaving her dumfounded by the lake. My head swarmed with thoughts as I made my way to the blue mansion. But I dismissed them, knowing there was no possible way it could have happened and chalking it off as one of Nike's children optimistic and creative imagination. No way did it happen unintentionally when I went all out to experiment just earlier this morning.

I let myself in through the front door and made my way to Chiron's office. Knocking on the door twice, a soft "come in" sounded, and I pushed open the door to reveal Chiron back in his wheelchair, seated behind his desk with horrible, horrible music blasting through his boom box.

"Hello, you asked for me?" I winced as I suppressed the urge to press against my ears.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did," he said as he made a move to turn off his blasted music. I silently gave a sigh of relief.

"Take a seat," he said, and I did.

He stared hard at me for a few, tense seconds. I tried hard to not fidget under his stare, this being my umpteenth time in his office, I should've gotten used to it already really.

"Let's cut to the chase shall we?" he started, giving a slight clearing of his throat while I nodded seriously at his words.

"You have been summoned by the council of Olympus to go on a three day quest to find Hera's diadem, which was last known to be located somewhere in California."

Silence followed, before a very quiet "what" came from my mouth, opened in shock at the news. I had expected to fit and blend in with the demigods like fish in water, and what did I get instead? A quest. Nothing would gain me faster and more concentrated attention than this, not even the 'beach incident' would garner the amount of attention I could already anticipate.

"Wait, hold up," I raised a hand and shook my head, then pinched myself hard on the thigh. The redness that formed immediately assured me that this was not a new nightmare making its way into my head. "The _council of Olympus_, wants _me_, to find _Hera's diadem_?" I asked in disbelief, shouting near the end as I realized that Hera's name had been brought up yet again.

"Yes," Chiron nodded seriously, no signs of joke on his wrinkled face but a small comforting smile, probably reserved for all his students for the past thousand years or so in this situation.

"Well," I scrambled for an excuse, any excuse, to get out of this mess. "Well, why can't she go get it herself? Did she lose it or something?" The minute those words came out of my mouth, I knew they were stupid and useless. Chiron probably thought I'm the densest student to ever have to go on a quest. I'm still kind of stuck on the thought that I've been summoned. To go on a quest. For Hera's _freaking_ diadem.

"No, she didn't lose it; she merely gave it to a friend for safekeeping for the past two hundred years ago and has now decided that she wants it back. She could very well go and get it herself, but that is not the way the gods work, as you've been taught, I'm sure, in your Greek lessons along with learning the language itself," Chiron explained patiently in his teacher voice, while I sat there thinking, why in Hades would Hera give a_ diamond_ encrusted diadem off to some random friend across the country, for _two hundred years_?

"I know it's a lot to take in, so why don't you take some time to think about it?"

I nodded, and stood to leave the room.

"Oh, and before you leave," Chiron raised a hand to stop my pace. "Remember that it's a three day quest to the other side of the country, and you would be able to have a visit to our oracle and that you would be suggested to bring along two friends should you wish to. Also, personally I think it's best not to refuse the gods," he gave me a 'you know why' look and continued, "and don't take too long to think about it, alright? I'll need an answer by tomorrow night at the latest," he insisted, then wave for me to get along and turned his boom box back on, leaning back as if nothing was wrong.

The walk back to the cabin was a blur, I didn't remember much except for the thoughts circling my head. A three day quest to the west coast, with or without company, and an audience with Rachel, the hippie oracle. All these to retrieve a diadem – _Hera's_ diadem. It staring to shape up a lot like an assessment, maybe one to see if new gods had taken up to their familiarity of the human world or not? Well, I'm not sure if I'm ready, thinking back to my awful archery classes, but I'll chuck my ass back to shape if that's what it's going to take to complete this quest. And you bet your cow I'll be there fighting and ready to go, Hera.

I marched the rest of the way back to Hermes cabin, formulating a plan of how to break all this to Xav and what I should pack for the quest. Something light for sure. And something cool to show off of course.

* * *

_It wasn't until Hera herself had given them a visit that Percy's rage had reared its ugly head. He had been practicing not to piss off anybody important after so many battles and wars, but it seemed that when it comes to his daughter, nothing is expected, including the girl they had found eavesdropping on them._

_Nothing had shocked him more than seeing that girl with an uncanny resemblance to both Percy and Annabeth as it had when the girl – Ambrosia – had been cowering under the hungry gaze of a chimaera. They had been able to save her, but they couldn't give her what she deserved._

_Percy had been puzzled as to if Rose was their daughter or not, but he had been willing to test out his theory. Annabeth, however, had been sure from the moment she laid eyes on her that she was their daughter. They had kept quiet of her identity when Annabeth had been pregnant to avoid harm coming unto their daughter, but look how had that turned out. Now, though, they have to keep everybody, even the person in concern, in the dark, for fear of the information landing on the wrong hands._

_Weird occurrences had been popping up around Mt. Othyrs. Camp Jupiter had reported attacks near the mountain and had alerted Percy to keep an eye out for Mt. Olympus as well. Percy had shared his concerns with Annabeth that a spy might have been planted at Camp Jupiter for them to have expected their responses so well, and they feared that the same thing would be done to their camp._

_Then, he was absolutely distracted from the protective thoughts towards the foreseeable harm towards Camp Half-Blood when his test on Rose worked unexpectedly well. He had always prepared bottles of sea water in case of emergencies and of course, for classes where he made sure to stand up for the bullied kids – he was once one of them after all. But this time, he had specifically picked on Rose, gave her that bottle of salt water and gauge for himself if she had the blood of the sea in her._

_At first, it didn't seem like she was faring any better than the other kids, and Percy felt the hope swelling in him starting to deflate. But suddenly, her eyes seemed brighter, just like Annabeth's, he thought fleetingly, before the perfect array of offensive moves came. She's a fast learner, he thought, as he faced the attack he had just fed her with before._

_Then, it was a move so swift he had not the time to block it, but rather to bear it with his eyes shut tight. What had come unexpectedly was the feel of cool metal blade against the small of his back, and he was instantly alarmed._

_Somehow, someone had caught the rumors of the hero of Olympus' invincible story and his vulnerable spot – the small of his back. The curious thing was, it was not here where the rumor had started. Instead, it had started its roots in Camp Jupiter, with Jason relaying information to a shock Percy, which was what had started their suspicions of spies in the first place._

_Throughout all his years since the defeat of the Giants followed by various other prophecies that he had had the privilege to have been a part of, many had come in contact with the open space of the small of his back. After his invincibility had been washed away at the River Tiber in Camp Jupiter all those years ago, that special space on his body had returned to its previous state. But somehow, the rumors fueled that Percy still experience some discomfort or tenderness at that specific part of his bodies. Annabeth and him had discussed it with Chiron and thought it best to keep them thinking that they had an advantage against them._

_So when young Rose had hit him in the small of his back in such a public venue, he could only pretend and put on an act, as he scanned the arena for any suspicious or telling facial expressions. All of them were filled with concerned, except for one person. And this person had caused much trouble since he was brought into the hearth of the heroes, Percy thought as he narrowed his eyes._

_This person was Xav Dangelo. And he had a smug look on his face that Percy would be very happy to swipe off._

* * *

**A/N: Hello world! I just wanted to say a great Thank You to all you people who had been reading, reviewing to this story as well as following and adding it to your favorites. I can't express my gratitude and love for you guys! Unfortunately, I had caught a mild flu and it hit on writing schedule for this chapter so if it's off its usual standard, then please forgive me. Last but not least, I hope that you will like and enjoy this chapter all the same, as it looks like our Rose/Sia may be facing some challenges ahead!**


	12. Chapter 11

Hmm. How many clothes do I have to bring? It was three days that I'm packing for after all. The set of bronze knives definitely needed to be in the bag of plenty, which was the name I have dubbed my magical duffel, it having the same properties as the corn of plenty – the Cornucopia – and all. It was quite fitting after all.

As I rummage through my drawers some more, a pair of sandal clad feet came into my sight from where I was crouched by my bed. I casted my gaze upwards and found Xav's amused face staring back down at me. I was surprised by his sudden emergence in my presence. A bitter feeling welled up as I thought of where his attention had been directed to the last few days, but the image of a smiling Xav popped up, and it quelled the negativity, for the moment.

"Hey!" I greeted as I rose from my crouch, brushing an errant hair that had managed to escape from the pony tail I had gathered together earlier this morning. Xav seemed to be surprised by my reaction, but that quickly went away as an expression of worry took over.

"What are you doing?" Xav asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Oh! This?" I gestured to the mess I'd turned up in my space in the cabin. I guessed it did look a bit worrying. "I'm packing for a quest. A three day quest, for the matter. The Olympians decided to chuck a newbie to the wolves and try retrieve Hera's diadem all the way across the country with a time limit," I explained, well, ranted really, then turned and gave Xav a tense smile, the bitter bite of jealousy rising, continuing, "Not that it's a big deal. Tell me more about your new friends, would you? You're a busy man nowadays, and I don't know when I'm going to get this opportunity to talk," I barely managed to keep the frost out of my words. I had no right to claim and keep him to myself after all. This irrational sense of jealousy needs to go.

Fortunately, Xav didn't catch on to my tone, and proceeded to tell me about his new gang, though he seemed to be overly cautious about the information he's giving me at the same time. It was when I started packing again that my previous words caught on to him.

"Wait, you're going on a quest?" he asked, incredulous.

I stomped down on the anger that flared up at his unintentionally condescending tone.

"Yes, I am," I answered calmly. "Now if you would excuse me, I need to finish packing."

Xav shuffled his feet nervously at the tension in my voice. I guessed he caught on this time. "Well, when are you leaving?"

I paused at his question. I had wanted to ask him for his companion on this highly dangerous and fatal adventure. But looking at the situation now, with Xav's budding friendship and the possibility of death in this quest, I can't be selfish enough to drag him on. Can I?

"I don't know," I lied.

He started pulling at his left ear, a nervous habit of his. He must have felt unwelcomed. After a silent moment, he said, "I should get going. Good luck then," he waved a little and left the Hermes cabin, the tentative smile on his face creating a ball of guilt in my stomach at treating his so badly and lying to him.

I didn't go to the dining hall for dinner that day. I had realized that I hadn't asked Xav to keep it quiet on the quest, and I didn't feel like facing the hordes of questions that would come if I did show my face somewhere.

It might be a little stupid not to enjoy the last night of peace before the dreaded challenge. I had heard of how difficult it is to survive a quest. Camp Half-Blood had only been successful in those since the prodigal son of Poseidon arrived here, and he hadn't had good things to say about the rough days outside of the camp's borders. It doesn't seem real to me. The threat against my life hadn't sink in yet. But perhaps it was my goggled vision from growing up in Olympus. Danger was a creation of fiction. And this quest, it can't be that bad if it was some sort of test from the gods, right? And Hera knew of my pure bloodline, untainted of ichor. Maybe it was childish of me to hope, but I had held out the fact that Hera would help me cheat on this quest.

This train of thought led me to notice something odd after the 'beach incident'. I had started taking notice of other campers' capabilities. Some were very good in running, others were great shooters. None of them could control water; nobody fit the criteria, except for Percy Jackson. I realized that I had been able to keep up with the more aggressive opponents during combat classes, even without the heightened sense of their surroundings that most of the others were equipped with inn the form of ADHD. Then, I thought back to the accident that had happened during the latest capture the flag a few days back. One of our campers was strike down by one of Artemis' hunters. I had watched as they fed a young Demeter's son ambrosia and made him sipped nectar when he woke. It was then that it came down on me. When I was sent to the infirmary the day I was attacked by the chimaera, had they fed me ambrosia too? I knew that I had never come close to the foods of gods, knowing that one bite would be fatal to my body. But if I had eaten ambrosia that day, and I am still breathing steadily and standing firmly on the ground today, that would only mean…

It was a dangerous thought that I couldn't help but follow. But as I looked away from my firm gaze on the bottom of the top bunk to around the cabin room, I realized that the hours had flew by and the muted light that came from the creak of the door suggested it was about an hour after day break.

I quickly put the important thought away for the moment. Reaching for my packed duffel under the bed, I pulled it up my shoulder and tip toed out the cabin.

I jogged as silently as I could across the hearth and the cabins, uphill towards the cave. Chiron did say that I have an audience with the oracle after all. Let's just hope that she's there.

I stopped in front of the flimsy barrier hanging from the rocky ceiling of the cave, swaying gently in the summer wind.

I cleared my throat. "Rachel?" Since there was no flat surface to knock on, I supposed calling would suffice as an indication.

"Yes?"

The voice I had expected to answer from inside the cave sounded behind me, making me jump up in surprise. I turned quickly and was face with the hooded figure of our beloved oracle. She took down her hood, revealing a mess of fiery red curls and a pair of sleepy green eyes.

"I suppose you are the one then?" she half yawned out.

I nodded.

"Come in, then," she waved me through the opening of her cave.

She sat down in one of the comfy looking arm chairs and gestured for me to do the same.

"I'm sorry for popping up behind you like that," she waved back towards the entrance as she was pouring a cup of tea, "I was up for a stroll, not that I'm much of a strolling person, but I got this urge to just go out you know. Being the oracle and all, I should be used to it by now…"

Rachel went on and on, and I thought that it was odd that she had called me by my name several times without me ever telling her in the first place. She probably got it from Chiron, being already informed of my probable presence as shown before I was invited in. but it still remains that she was one odd woman indeed.

"Excuse me, Rachel, but could you possibly tell me how does the prophecy thing works?" I asked, interrupting her speech on how horrible her recent art works had been.

She set down her cup of tea on the low coffee table, "I've been told the color green was involved and that I pass out during the process but-"

Well, I can tell you that she_ did_ pass out, and the color green was very much involved.

Rachel was interrupted, from what I was gathering was _another_ speech, by the green mist that came out of her mouth and slithered around the room like a serpent.

Her voice echoed through the cave, branding itself into my memory, a memory that I was certain that I would never forget.

"_You shall travel west, and be tugged back to east;_

_You shall uncover truth, and the deceit that lies within;_

_You shall find what you seek, yet be downed by your undoing;_

_You will be the death, or the salvation, of your own being."_

Rachel woke up shortly after, and the rising sun simmered through the slits in the barrier, warming up the cold.

She gave a yawn, and then straightened up at my expression, which must have been quite alarming, after what had just been heard.

"It was bad, huh?" she gave a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, you could say that," I murmured, my voice breaking at the end. "I, ah, should be going. Thanks for the prophecy," I said, tuning my back towards Rachel's smiling face and walking down the hill and moving to the Big House.

Her tripled voice echoed in my head.

Deceit. Undoing. Death. Salvation.

Truth.

My life had been dictated by others for thirteen years now. I don't know what's real or fake. I only know what I've been told. Truth had been the one thing that was absolutely foreign to me. I had been told that it was truth. But how could I know for sure with everything that has been up turned and challenged during the past weeks?

I knocked on Chiron's door, checking for illumination form the slits of the door before doing so. He was awake, of course.

"Oh, Ambrosia. You have decided then?"

I took a breath. "Yes I have," I lifted my head up to meet his eyes, "and I have also decided that I'll be leaving early, right now, if it's possible."

Chiron raised an eyebrow, but opposed to nothing otherwise.

"Alright. Will you have any friends accompanying you?"

"No," another eyebrow went up, but nothing from that ancient mouth.

"Argus will drive you to the central station in New York, that's as far as we'll be able to take you," Chiron's gruff voice said, and I raised my eyebrow questioningly at his words.

"I kind of expected you to make a spontaneous leave, so I had Argus to wait on you," he explained in a comforting voice.

I felt my face heat up a bit at the fact that he knew me so well in just a matter of weeks and that poor Argus had to wait up for me. "Thank you."

Chiron looked down at my small form, leaning forward slightly to be able to see me properly.

"You take care, Rose. Or some people here will be quite upset," he said quietly with mirth.

I shrugged, still feeling a little embarrassed at his words before. "Not that it seems to be now, anyways."

Chiron rose from his hunch and straightened back to his full height. "You might think so, but often what you see does not say for what you don't see. Argus is waiting for you in the garage. May the gods be with you."

Every step I took to the garage felt like it took an hour. When the click of the doors locking and the start of the engine sounded, my heart gave a leapt.

This was it.

* * *

"_Percy!"_

_A young boy with messy brown hair came barreling through from the forest and onto the beach, a tangle of long limbs spraying up sand and disrupting the otherwise peaceful Sunday morning. Two figures sat near where the waves were touching the coast, heads put close together that were quickly shot up at the alarming shout that rang across the beach._

_Percy rose from his perch in the sand, brushing slightly at his shorts, before waving to the boy. _

"_Xav? What happened?"_

_As the boy reached the couple, his features cleared up. Clad in full body armor, he appeared to have been patrolling the camp borders. And under that mess of hair was a pair of liquid golden eyes and a handsomely angled face, hidden under the baby fat resting still at his young age. Percy pushed away at that irrational fear as a shiver that ran up his spine. This was Xav, not any other being that has any malicious intent. Not even when he looked so similar to a face that had caused him his nightmarish reality when he was all but a teenager. _

"_What's the problem Xav?" he asked as he clutched the shoulders of the gasping boy._

"_I did it!" Absolute joy and pride lit up young Xav's face as he grinned widely up at his hero's worried expression. Percy felt himself smiling back instinctively, and tried to keep it down before finding out what has happened exactly. _

"_Hold your horses, there. You haven't answered my question," Percy reprimanded, but it didn't seemed to register in the boy's mind, it being focused on the 'horses' and how cool it was that Percy could speak to them._

"_Would you tell me what happened?" Percy kneeled to be eye level with Xav, and got ready for one of his outrageous adventures._

"_I went to Zeus' fists yesterday and I found the door! I found the door to the Labyrinth!" Xav raised a victorious fist and started doing a weird dance right at the beach. If it hadn't been what he had said just a moment ago, Percy would have laughed so hard he would have tears rolling down his face. But he was frozen at the mention of the Labyrinth._

"_What did you say?" Percy's alarmed tone, eerily silent, stopped Xav in his tracks._

"_I found the door to the Labyrinth, at Zeus' fists," Xav said slowly, as if explaining to a child._

"_Did you go in?" Percy asked, an urgent tremor lying beneath the calm surface._

"_Of course I did! Who wouldn't if they had even managed to find it in the first place?" Xav was back to his victory dance again. _

_A boisterous laugh came from behind them, and what they found was a keeling Annabeth with a hand clutching her middle and tears rolling down her face. _

"_What are doing, Xav?" Annabeth managed to get out between the laughs. _

"_Xav, why don't you head to the dining hall for some dinner? Could you keep it quiet on the Labyrinth though? It could be our secret," Percy interrupted and gave a wink, then waited for Xav to be out of sight before turning to speak with Annabeth._

"_He got into the Labyrinth, Annabeth," Percy rushed. Annabeth's eyes widen at the implication, then stared back at where Xav had disappeared through the forest. _

"_What are we going to do, Percy?" she said worriedly._

_They had taken up to the task of Xav's mentor after rescuing him from a drakon attack. He was an orphan who had run away, and his innocent belief in the world had drawn them in. Xav had been enamored by the duo, and strived to be just adventurous, often causing problems in camp. This time, they were not sure how they could convince Chiron that it had been another bout of adventure finding. _

_Because they had not been able to find the door since the last time it was opened, and the one to locate it, the only one who has access to it, was prophesized to bring a rain of havoc down onto Camp Half-Blood's impenetrable borders._

* * *

**A/N: Hello! Sorry about the lateness of this chapter, the next might be a little off schedule as well, but I'll try to keep to it. Thanks again for reading!**


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